But for the Grace of God
by RhysThornbery
Summary: What if Shepard wasn't alone in her efforts to save the Galaxy? What if She had a brother to lean on? How will She handle to rising threat posed by rogue Spectre Saren Arterius? Should be rated T or M just in case. Mostly for Language and violence. Perhaps a little suggestive themes here and there.
1. Chapter 1: A Beginning to things

Quick Author's Note:

Hey folks. This is my first foray into the world of fan fiction writing. Now Hopefully it'll all go well. I will of course be more than happy to receive reviews (good or bad). If you have suggestions on how something maybe should have gone or if you spot an error please send me a I do not own Mass Effect that distinction belongs to EA and Bioware. This story will likely be rated T just to be safe. For some language and violence. May upgrade as content allows. Made some updates recently following the advice of a few of you reviewers. Thanks again for the advice.

Well thats all I can think of off the top of my head. Hope you enjoy reading this.

-Sincerely Rhys Thornbery

**But for the Grace of God Chapter 1**

Udina sighed and stretched a little before shifting a new file to the top of the pile. It was the one of the last among perhaps a hundred such files. He scanned the file before him briefly before looking up at the two other men in the conference room and then back down at the file.

"well" he said dubiously "what about Shepard?" He glanced up again into the faces of the military men across the table.

One, a man named Anderson sighed to himself and rubbed his eyes tiredly. They'de been at this for hours "Which one? The brother or the sister? They're both being considered."

Udina considered the sheet before him. "Shepard… Jennifer, Anne." He paused again. "grew up in the colonies until that mess on Mindoir orphaned her. Adopted by a Hannah Shepard of the Alliance Navy?"

"Never met the woman myself. Hannah that is. She has a reputation as being a good officer though. X.O of the Kilimanjaro." Remarked the other officer.

"As to Jenn? Well there's no question she's a tough one. She knows how rough it can be out there." Anderson Conceded. "And she knows what life on starships can be like, she spent the remainder of her childhood on various ships with her new mother and adopted brother."

The other military man, a heavily grizzled and scarred old veteran by the name of Hackett broke in here " Proved herself during the Blitz. Held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements arrived. She's the only reason Elysium is still there."

Udina nodded but pointed to something else in the notes "But it says here she saw her whole unit save one die in the incident on Akuze? She could be bearing some serious emotional scars" he lifted his eyebrows at those across from him.

"Every soldier has scars Udina, Shepard's definitely a survivor" Anderson countered.

"I guess we can't question her courage" Udina admitted in turn. "Humanity needs a hero, Shepard's gotta be the best we have right?" he asked consulting the other Shepard file.

"Her brother... John. A….Earthborn, says here he came from a slum somewhere in the American midwest…. no parents, at least not anymore?…. adopted just like her by one Hannah Shepard… Joined the Military just like her at age eighteen… won some commendations for…. he lead the Torfan raid?" Udina paused but shook his head "No we don't need that as our example to the other races. An orphan war hero would appeal on some levels, but not one who lead a mission in which most of his squad was killed butchering hundreds of Batarians. Terrorists or not."

They all paused and looked at each other. Hackett just raised his eyebrows at the younger officer who nodded.

Udina paused briefly before leaning back in his chair a small smile stretching his lips. He nodded in turn "I'll make the call".

Almost a month later.

Indeterminate distance from the Arcturus Prime Relay

Arcturus Stream Orion Cygnus Arm Milky Way Galaxy

Jennifer Shepard relatively short for a soldier, Caucasian being of mindiorian stock and Raven haired had just finished strapping down the last latch on her combat boots and settled her feet back on the floor in time to feel the ships deck heel and shift as the Normandy dropped out of F.T.L.

_Show time. Time to go to work._ She started up the stairs to the command deck ducking out of the way of an ensign hurrying to his station. The Normandy SR-1 a top of line, state of the art prototype. The first ever cooperatively design frigate in the Alliance Navy. An amalgamation of Human and Turian ingenuity.

A first. It hadn't been 30 years ago that Humans and Turians had been slaughtering each other in the hundreds of thousands during the so called First Contact War, She reflected nodding in a friendly manner to the navigator who she'd only talked to in passing, as she passed the galaxy map on the way to the cockpit. Dim orange and blue lights winked at her from the dozens of holographic control terminals that lined the command deck.

The doors to the cockpit clunked as the mag-locks disengaged and hissed as they slid apart. Allowing her to hear the pilot as she approached. He an average redhead with a non-regulation beard, and another officer at work the display casting wild shadows across their faces. " Arcturus Prime Relay is in range. Initiate transmission sequence." He paused hands hovering over his board he hummed a little under his breath and… "We are connected. Entering transit mass and destination. Relay is hot, acquiring approach vector." he reached over tapping the intercom button on his board "All stations secure for transit" tapped it off again "Board is green. Approach run has begun."

Shepard braced a hand against the bulkhead. "Hitting the relay in three…. two…. one!" The Deck heaved as the ship was seized by the enormous alien jump catapult known as a Mass Relay and hurled into and just as rapidly out of superluminal velocities.

The pilot's hands danced across his controls as the ship finished its deceleration. "Calculating…. Thrusters check… Navigation Check…. Internal Emission Systems engaged. All systems engaged." He checked another readout "Drift just under fifteen hundred K." He announced proudly.

A Shadow shifted and Shepard noticed the Turian standing against the opposite bulkhead for the first time. Turians. A race of semi reptilian avians native to the world of Palaven. Dog legged, with spiny crest on top of there heads and bowl like fringe around there necks Turians were some of the more physically intimidating alien species in the galaxy. Typically standing over 6 feet tall this Turian like most others of his kind dwarfed Shepard's more petite frame. Clad in black and and blood crimson armour this one shifted next to the pilot and nodded thoughtfully. Nihlus she remembered now his name was Nihlus she'd only encountered him twice before. He hadn't said anything those times only watched.

"Fifteen hundred is good, your captain will be pleased" he ground out in his eerily alien voice before rapidly spinning on his heel and hurried out of the room and down the command deck.

The pilot sighed and sunk back in his chair adjusting his hat over his close cropped brown hair. "I hate that guy"

The other officer on deck a lieutenant by the name of Kaiden Alenko eyed the Pilot with a wry smirk turning his lips. "Nihlus gave you a compliment so you hate him?"

"You remember to zip your jumpsuit up while leaving the bathroom that's "good" The pilot said derisively following it up with a snort. " I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy, and hit a target the size of a pinhead. "That's" incredible!"

He paused and shrugged "Besides Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him onboard. Call me paranoid."

It was Kaiden's turn to snort "You're paranoid. The council races helped fund this project they have a right to keep an eye on their investment."

Rolling eyes, this time from the pilot. "Yeah right, thats the "Official" story" This part said with hands making quotation marks "But only a fool believes the official story."

Shaking her head Shepard finally decided to weigh in. Propelling her self upright off the bulkhead where she had been leaning. "Well it is true the council doesn't typically send Spectres on shakedown runs. No matter how much money they've invested."

The pilot gave a jerk and turned in his seat. Revealing his tags. Jeff Moreau, call sign "Joker" winked at her from his regulation flight suits breast pocket. "Whoa sorry Commander didn't see you there. But you agree then? There's more going on here than the Captain's letting on?" he asked looking up at the commander where she stood with arms crossed casually over her chest.

She shrugged noncommittally and opened her mouth to reply but there was a shrill beep and "Joker" spun back round in his chair and slapped a blinking icon on his display. "Joker, Status Report" Captain Anderson's voice barked over the intercom.

The pilot straightened somewhat in him seat "Just cleared the mass relay Captain. Stealth systems are engaged. Everything's solid so far."

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime." His voice sounding particularly deadpan over the tinny speaker.

"Aye aye Captain. Better brace yourself sir I think Nihlus is headed your way."

This time there was an exasperated sigh before a reply came back. "He's already here lieutenant." The pilot winced. There was another brief pause "Just…. Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm. room for a debriefing." the line snapped off with an audible click.

Joker turned to look over his shoulder at her "you get that Commander?"

She raised an eyebrow at him before turning around and stalking out of the cockpit "Yeah I heard, I'm on my way" she tossed over her shoulder.

She caught a bit of conversation before the bulkhead door sealed behind her. "is it just me or does the Captain always sound a little pissed off?" "Only when he's talking to you joker."

Back down the way she came. "I'm telling you, I just saw him! He marched by like he was on a mission."

A weary sounding voice replied "He's a Spectre, they're always on a mission." "And we're getting dragged right along with him?" This time she recognized the voice as the navigators voice. A sigh came over the radio at his station "Relax Pressly your gonna give yourself an ulcer."

She was just about to the comm. room when she got flagged down by a pair stand off to the side.

_I really hope Anderson isn't in a hurry for that debrief_ She thought wryly. Stopping to roll her eyes before she pivoted on her heels towards them.

The pair consisted of a _Very_ young marine barely growing a proper beard and the ships aging doctor a woman by the name of Karen Chakwas.

Shepard had just opened her mouth to greet them when the marine piped up "So what do you think Commander?"

"About what…" she glanced at his name tag "Jenkins?" _That's right the new recruit's name is Jenkins._

The newbie had the good grace to look mildly chagrined. "Right sorry Commander. Do you think we'll be staying on Eden Prime Long? I hope not, i'm itching for some real action." She was spared having to respond right away to this idiocy by the good doctor who shot her a knowing glance before interrupting him.

"I sincerely hope you're kidding corporal. Your "real action". her tone at those particular words suggested at an old dowager picking up something foul off the deck. "Has a habit of ending with me patching up crew members in the infirmary."

Jennifer shot Chakwas a grateful smile "she's right Corporal you'll get into enough scrapes as a soldier without going looking for trouble. Cool you're jets and don't do anything stupid."

"I'm sorry Commander. You two are right of course. It's just that all this waiting killing me. I've never been on a mission like this especially not one with a Spectre aboard."

"I understand Corporal. But You'll do fine, just treat this like any other assignment and everything will work out."

"Easy for you to say Commander. You've proved yourself a dozen times over _The Blitz_, _Akuze,_ and god only knows how many other classified ops. This is my big chance. To show the brass what I can do!" The Corporal grumped.

She sighed _Oh to be that young again._" You've got a long career ahead of you Jenkins. Don't do anything stupid to mess this up."

He rushed to reassure her "Don't worry ma'am I won't mess this up."

"Alright you two. I really need to get going…" she turned to finish her journey to the Comm. station.

"Oh! Commander Before you go do you know what this missions about?" He pleaded.

"Nope! but i'll let you know if I find anything out." She ducked through the door into the comm room to avoid further interrogation.

Which was as she turned to view it properly, empty of the Captain and equally full of Turian Spectre.

He appeared to be waiting for her looking up sharply from a readout playing on the wall screen. "Ah, Commander Shepard. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."

_A private conversation with an alien killing machine? Be still my heart! _Jenn thought. a small smile tugging the edge of her mouth. "About what?"

"Im interested in this world we're going to. Eden Prime? I hear it's quite beautiful." Nihlus mused stoically.

"So i've heard. I've never been there myself but they say its a paradise." she shrugged noncommittally.

"Yes a paradise…" His tone spoke to just what he thought of the concept of paradise. He clearly wasn't a believer in the concept. "Serene, tranquil, safe. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol for your people hasn't it?" He paused and appear to consider "Proof. Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy but protect them as well. But how safe are the really?" This last part was punctuated by a raised brow plate on his forehead.

Shepard eyes narrowed marginally gauging his intent. "You know something? Evidence of a credible threat?"

"Your people are still newcomers, worse. Successful newcomers many resent." _Mindior and The Blitz being sterling examples of course. But lets not talk about those right mr. alien killing machine._ "The galaxy is a dangerous place. Is Humanity truly ready for this?" The Turian asked oblivious to her internal monologue.

She opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the hiss of the comm rooms door. And an imposing figure stood in the door "I think perhaps its time we told the commander whats really going on."

Captain Anderson, closest thing to a father figure she'd had since Mindior walked into the room. He had been among the landing forces that had repelled the remaining slavers from Mindior. Taken her under his wing then and later when she first joined the service. Tall with skin like teak wood and a neutral english accent. Piercing eyes that you'd swear could read your thoughts. What was it she had heard one of the bridge officer saying about him the other day. A veteran of the first contact war and just about every brushfire war since. If you took all the medals and commendations he'd earned and melted them down you could make a life sized statue of the man.

He marched down the short ramp into the comm room and nodded at Nihlus to proceed. Appearing not the least bit cowed by the armoured alien. The alien nodded in return with all the signs of respect showing in his face.

"This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run commander."

She snorted derisively. " Hyeah. That much was already obvious and not just to me, you should hear the crew out there jabbering away. I think my favourite theory i've heard today around the water cooler had something to do with giant alien space crabs."

The captain nearly choked on the laugh that bubbled up i his chest. "A little decorum would not go amiss, Staff commander? At least in the presence of guests?" However his rebuke was softened considerably by the sly smile curling the corner of his mouth.

Surprisingly Nihlus didn't seem to mind all that much just smiling thinly. Anderson saved him having to respond though. " Were making a covert pickup on eden prime, its why we needed the stealth systems engaged."

She shot him a wink to reassure him she wouldn't be causing any more trouble and would try to stick to protocol.

"A'righty then what's the payload and will my marines be needing to bring out the rigs to get it aboard?"

"Sorry Shepard this came down right from the top information only on a need to know basis." "A research team unearth some kind of artifact. A Beacon Discovered while excavating a dig site. Upon closer examination its origin is clear. It's Protean."

That made her stand up a little straighter and take notice. _Protheans_ she thought to herself _Builders of the mass relays and the great citadel of the widow nebula. Inventors of the mass effect principle. Humanity only discovered our local mass relay and faster than light engines tech thanks to the abandoned Prothean archive on Mars. An archive which was abandoned because the Protheans had been extinct for what a few ten thousand years or something like that?_

She voiced this part to Anderson. But not the next. _Where's my textbook when I need it?_

"what else can you guys tell me?" Again it was anderson who replied Nihlus content to remain silent with his hands fold behind his back "Though it goes without saying Shepard this is Big. The last time we made a discovery this large it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But a little colony like Eden Prime lacks the facilities to handle something like this. Which is why our orders are to bring it to the citadel for study"

Here Nihlus cut in "Obviously this goes beyond mere human interests Commander this discovery could affect every species in council space." _and beyond .but we don't like to think about those guys do we mr. nice alien killing machine. We don't talk about how the non-council races aren't like the rest of us do we?_

"Plus we all know that the council gets shirty about people hoarding Prothean tech to themselves? Can't have an upstart race of hairy ape people outmatching the high and mighty council races?" _Well accepting the Asari of course. God only know just how advanced they are, we know their advanced but how far?…. Damnit I promised Anderson i'd mind my manners._

Again the captain nearly choked and shot a her a look. And again the Turian took it in stride even gracing her with a chuckle. "True enough commander. That kind of behaviour would only make you more enemies. However to get back on topic the beacon is not the only reason i'm here." Shepard sighed grateful that the Turian wasn't taking her mildly irreverent self to too seriously.

"Nihlus want's to see you in action Commander. He's here to evaluate you."

_Oh joy a test too? It my birthday?_ thankfully she was able to keep this one to herself not spouting it in front of a superior and an Alien representative.

"Okay well that explains why i keep bumping into him every time I turn around. Seriously dude? I've never seen anyone loom like you do. Its impressive." _And I did it again…. great. _The other two tried to read her face which was looked in state of beatific innocence for their sakes.

"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. We need a bigger say in galactic politics. We need more say with the council. The Special Tactics and Reconaissance (SPECTRE) branch represents the Council's power and authority. This is what we want. A human accepted into there ranks as mark of how far we've come. This is what we want from you Jenn" he said looking straight into her eyes. "We want you to be the first human Spectre"

_Ok. Way to Floor me. A Spectre like our good buddy Nihlus here eh?_

"You held off an enemy assault during the blitz single handed. You demonstrated not only courage but incredible skill, and then you displayed your incredible will for survival. Not many others could of, and did survive what happened to your unit on Akuze." Nihlus said with sincerity and eagerness on his face.

_Right. got to remember Turians love a good fight. A civilization of war junkies._

"This is why I put your name forward as Spectre candidate."

This took Shepard by surprise and she smiled a little. At least it was a pleasant surprise. "To be honest i didn't expect a Turian to be in favour of a Human Spectre. I was under the impression we weren't your favourite after the whole first contact war and rapid expansion thing."

Again with the sincerity "Not all Turians resent humanity Shepard. Some of us see the potential of your species. We see the great things you have to offer the galaxy…. and to the Spectres." Her he straightened and became solemn " We are an elite group. It is exceedingly rare for us to find someone with the skills we seek. I don't care if you're human Shepard. I care if you can get the job done. I care if you can help protect our people."

She considered this. rolling her neck to loosen the tension that had settled there. "Alrighty then. I assume since were here having this conversation in the first place the Alliance supports this?" this received a nod from Anderson. "Where do I begin?"

"I'm going to need to see your skills in person commander. Eden Prime will be the first of Hopefully many missions together." This came from Nihlus of course.

Anderson stepped in briefly "You're going to lead the ground team, Secure the beacon and get it aboard the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you and observe. And remember commander who knows what data the beacon holds? It could be very dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands."

A quick nod "Anyone in particular i should keep an eye out for?"

"The Attican Traverse is not as law abiding as we would prefer. plenty criminals and mercenaries would be willing to take a shot at a lone alliance ship and marine detachment to score whatever the beacon might hold." there was a significant pause. "And you know better than anybody who's watching right across the border in the terminus systems Shepard."

At this her expression soured somewhat "Yeah. Pirates, Terrorists and the Empire of very angry Slave taking, human hating, bastards the Batarians." _Wonderful…._ "They'd just love to to get a leg up on us or council races."

"Yes and they the pirates, terrorists or the other rouge states would be more than willing to go to war over a discovery of this magnitude. Which is the dead last thing the council races want" Noted Anderson.

Shepard bounced eagerly on her heels. "Alright Captain, Im ready whenever you are. Lets hit this thing."

Anderson smiled and opened his mouth to reply when a sharp tone blared over the intercom in the ceiling.

It was Joker's voice that came in over the loud speaker "Captain we've got a problem!"

"What's wrong joker?"

"Transmission from Eden Prime sir. You better see this." Jokers previously ebullient voice was now tense and upset.

"Bring it up on the screen commander." Ordered anderson and Shepard hurried to activate the wall mount. "let's see whats stirred the Hornets nest today…"

Eden Prime Surface

Ashley Williams Gunnery Sergeant of the 212th Unit of the 2nd Frontier Division Alliance Marine Core. A woman of conviction, strength, and honour had never been so afraid in her life. She had been sleeping content in a dream that she no longer remembered when the attack had begun. She had come to wakefulness suddenly as the air raid siren blared a full alert. Rushing from her bunk room to the Barracks armoury to pull on her suits underlay and strapping down the hard plates with the the rest her squad as their commander had briefed them on the mission. Unknown hostiles had appeared in orbit around Eden Prime and had wiped out the Colonial picket ships on permitter protection duty, before they had a chance to rally. Those ships had now dropped into the idyllic little colonies atmosphere almost immediately after.

Dog Squad. Pennyloafer, Sergeant Donkey, Bates, Rasputin, Jenner and herself. None of the of Squads in their Unit would be going with them. They had been ordered to secure an artifact that had been discovered not far outside the main settlement. A pair of scientist and Manuel were supposed to meet them and assist in safely moving the beacon. However as the squad arrived at the site they hadn't appeared. They soon learned why when they had been ambushed an enemy scout ship of unfamiliar origin, that had arrived ahead of them and deployed a screen of drones; Flying gun platforms composed of a dull grey alloy. They had lost Pennyloafer to a fusillade of energy weapon fire in that first skirmish and Donkey had been wounded forcing him to cede command to her. They had fought forward despite there losses and had attempted to take the dig site from a team of synthetic soldiers that the scout ship had deployed all over the site. But it had ultimately a futile gesture. They had been forced out of the site and along one of several side canyons and into the hills surrounding the dig site and the research camp.

Now standing over the body of yet another one of her squad. Her friends she was forced to admit that their position was becoming increasingly untenable. They needed evac or reinforcements soon or they'd all be as dead as Pennyloafer, or Donkey.

She brought up her rifle and thundered a burst into another of the bizarre long necked synthetic. The machine shook like a puppet on strings and released a high pitched squeal of static as the rounds tore up its chassis, not her first kill of the day, hopefully not her last. Its compatriot ducked away behind cover with an odd rolling hop they seemed fond of. _Perhaps those doglegs can't do the same things ours can._ She had yet to see them perform a more traditional roll or crouch. She grabbed Jenner under his armpit and hauled him to his feet dragging him up and away from where he had fallen. He limped heavily an enemy beam shot had shattered his Tibia. "Jenner!" she shouted over the roar of gunfire and the answering scream of energy weapons. "I need you and Rasp' to put out a distress signal. If we don't get some help here soon we're done." He nodded weakly firing his own rifle from his hip. _Again with the dodging how fast can these things move?_

They shuffled back another dozen paces firing bursts towards the glowing eyes of the synthetics. She looked down for just a moment as she adjusted his weight on her shoulder. But looked up again to the top of the hill the bots' were cresting when a screech even louder than the guns sounded from it. A pair of enormous synthetics had landed behind the rest of the unit. The first was black with orange markings and easily half again as tall as a man a great shotgun gripped in it three fingered hands. The second was even worse than the first. Twice as tall as a man this time, the machine appeared to be close to a solid ton of alloy hard plates and woven composites. It hefted a great cannon in its hands and a trio of drones floated at it shoulder. A white body with blue marking scuttling about across it. _Oh *5%&# me!_

"Rasp. Suppressive fire!" She looked around for anything they could take cover behind. And realized they were in just about the worst place the could possibly be. and almost empty ravine below and numerically and technologically superior enemy. _R__eal smooth Ash. Way to prove the brass wrong. Show them you have no idea how to lead._She cursed herself bitterly.

"Bates?" she called looking around. he was nowhere to be seen. "Where the hell is Bates?" she cried desperately. The others were to busy trying to pick off a horde of angry robots to reply.

There! a small boulder had settled at the base of the ravine and she hauled Jenners towards it. Energy bursts kicking up the sand and pebbles around her.

The reached the boulder and the released Jenners to lean against it. "Rasp? I need you to send that message right now Jenners will broadcast for you." She turned back and saw the titanic blue and white bot shoulder its weapon.

"Get down." Shoving Jenners lower behind the boulder.

She fired another burst catching one of the monsters drone bodyguards causing it to spin out wildly and explode against a tree.

She heard Rasputin begin his mayday behind her. "To any friendly forces. This is Dog Squad of the 212. We are under attack! Taking Heavy Casualties. I repeat heavy casualties." She heard him cry in desperation. A great bolt of blue energy streaked from where the monster stood and exploded against the boulder causing the soldier to cringe. "we can't…. agh… we need evac. They came out of nowhere we need…." what they needed was cut of as a bolt severed his head from his shoulders. Another Barrage thundered into the ground around them and knocked Ashley off her feet. She looked into Jenners terrified eyes. _Just the two of us now._

She was about to call it. Time for their last stand. When something happened. A great thunder tore the air. _No a thunder doesn't even begin to describe it._ It was like the world dying beneath her feet. The sound vibrated not only in her armour but into her bones and she felt despair clutch her heart. _What now!? What can they possibly have now?_

She let go of her aching ears as the thunder ended, and looked up. and Up. Jenners craned his neck around the boulder to see what had caught her attention.

The sky had turned red. a deep roiling crimson, with great sparks and arcs of red lightning writhing within it. And she saw what had shook the world so. A great object was descending through the cloud. She could see only a portion of its great mass through the inferno around it but it appear black. Black like obsidian. It appeared to be in the form of a great hand or claw. five long booms stretching outwards from it central structure. A great Ship. And if the range finder on her helmet was correct it was far larger then its bulk already suggested at nearly three miles away it filled the sky. Larger than any other ship she had seen. Larger even than the mighty Everest Class Dreadnoughts of the Alliance.

She was shaken from the stupor the vessel's appearance had caused her to fall into by an explosion that cast her easily twelve feet through the air. Jenners was dead nothing but a sad pile of rubble remained where the boulder had stood. She staggered to her feet and fled. running as hard and fast as her legs could carry her deeper into the ravine where trees grew.

At first pursuit was close on her trail bolts of energy hissing through the air around her. But it gradually slackened as she broke into the forest undergrowth. It was then the the thought occurred to her. The full scope of her situation hitting her and nearly dropping her to her knees. _Its just you now Ash. Theres no one else left._ She wiped blindly at her eyes which were starting to sting and plunged on.


	2. Chapter 2: Eden Prime Part I

Authors Note:

Just a quick one this week. First and foremost, I NEED BETA READERS! Otherwise I hope to post another chapter next week as well. However I don't Know if this one a week thing will continue while i'm in school. And Finally Read and Review and share (spread the joy to others folks)

Again Hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy putting it out.

-Sincerely Rhys Thornbery

**But for the Grace of God Chapter 2: Eden Prime Part I**

Shepard pulled open the locker's door and hauled out her hard suit to begin putting it on. There were no other ships in the area to respond to the distress call. Putting aside the factor of the beacon; that alone made the call simple for the Captain. They were the only help that colony was getting, that those soldiers from the feed were getting. He had ordered Joker to make best possible speed for the colony while operating under stealth. The Normandy was a Deep recon frigate. So stealth was the only hope that it had of helping anyone or securing the beacon. _A Frigate_ she recalled cinching the belt of her suits underlay tight. _Is intended to operate in packs to conduct hit and run raids, support cruisers or other heavy craft, or to screen and eliminate fighters. Not get bogged down in a brawl with a dreadnought a hundred time its size that look for all the world like a cross between the devil himself reaching out to smite you and a giant black squid._

Next she clamped on her hard plates. Aldrin Labs Onyx pattern ablative ceramic armour. _The armour of the Alliances' finest_. The N7's. Elite special operations units recruited out of the Alliances Marine corps. for the hardest missions. She herself had been recruited from the 101st Battalions combat engineering division. A deep almost black grey the armour had a Crimson Stripe down the shoulder and down the middle of the helmets upper carapace. Shepard had paid out of pocket for a number of custom upgrades however. Energized plating and and ablative coating developed and produced by a squirrely little man living in lower manhattan with his mother.

Jenkins, Alenko and the rest of the Normandy's small compliment of marines stood next to her hurrying to there own Alliance regulation blue suits. Jenkins turned to talk to her as she secured the suits cuirass to her under suit with an audible hiss/click sound. "So what do we know about what's going on down there Commander?" he sounded worried. _rightly so_ she conceded _his quiet little home is getting burned down by hostile synthetics…. he hasn't even seen that thing in the feed yet._

"Multiple hostiles. Synthetics of some kind. Advanced and heavily armed. They appear to have aerial support. Multiple capital ships in orbit and atmosphere." She paused testing the kinetic barrier generators pushing the activation switch on her omni tool's holographic interface multiple times to be sure. "A group of marines sent out a distress signal indicating that they were about to be overrun. If it weren't for them we wouldn't even know something was wrong. So that indicates the colonies primary comm relays are either down or jammed." _Im leaning towards down. Otherwise the marines suit comms wouldn't be able to reach us either…. right?"_

Jenkins nodded absently as Alenko stepped up beside him. "Were ready whenever you are ma'am. She nodded and smiled thinly at him. She hadn't worked with him long but he was already proving to be an exceptional officer. While she had been suiting up herself and briefing them all he had manage to get not only himself but Jenkins, Arenchkov and Cheng to suit up as well. She secured her helmet under her elbow and grabbed her weapons off the rack. As a combat engineer she couldn't afford to overload on firearms when she was going to need room for her bag of tricks. A M7-Lancer Assault Rifle, a M3-Predator Heavy Pistol and a M27-Scimitar Combat Shotgun rounded out her modest arsenal. Each folding and collapsing into place on special magnetized hard points on her armour.

She felt the ships gravity shift infinitesimally beneath her feet as the ship entered atmosphere and she hurriedly hooked a satchel containing a Dragonfly class recon drone to her belt. "Looks like we're here everybody. Form up at the doors with the Captain and the scary looking alien and await orders." she paused for a moment "everyone stick together and listen to those orders and i'll do my best to get you all out of this alive. Now move it grunts."

She marched across the ships' small hanger deck which also housed the armoury. Her ears popped as the hanger door clunked and started to swing downwards, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as the kinetic barriers over the entryway snapped up.

Captain Anderson had been shouting something to Nihlus over the swirling winds entering the bay. But he stopped as she approached and turned to greet her. "Your teams the muscle of this operation, commander. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site. This will hopefully take any opposition off Nihlus as he attempts to infiltrate." She nodded in understanding. Alenko shifted beside her and spoke "What about survivors Captain?" the Captain shook his head sadly. "As much as it pains me lieutenant locating survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon must be our top priority."

The intercom buzzed and Jokers voice spoke "Approaching Drop point one." _For a pilot named Joker he sure gets deadpan when he's in the zone._

Jenkins seemed less than satisfied with the ordering of priorities but kept his mouth shut on that issue. He turned to the Turian spectre where he stood adjusting sites on his weapons. "Nihlus you coming with us." The Turian barely acknowledged the query. "I move faster on my own."

With that he stalked towards the open bay doors and leapt. Shepard shook her head as he disappeared from sight. _I hope he has some sort of jump pack built into that armour of his. I don't think Turians have been able to fly on their own in several million years…. Thud._

Captain Anderson didn't seem particularly perturbed and continued speaking "Nihlus will scout ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise I want radio silence."

"Yup." she said with a cheery smile " don't worry captain we've got his back." Again the intercom buzzed. "Approaching drop point two."

The Team of marines moved up to the ramp's lip. A Pair of hatches opened overhead and a set of launchers fired harpoons down into the ground below. _No fancy jump packs for us. Ziplines for the win… Why do Turians get all the cool toys?_

She secured Alenko's friction descender to the line and watched as he dropped down the cable. Jenkins, then Arenchkov, then Cheng Followed. "Ship Perimeter secure Commander. You're Secure to Descend."

As her boots hit the sod beneath the ship the harpoons popped loose and were reeled in. It then began a slow careful turn and accelerated out of the landing zone. As she examined the area around her she thought. _This may have been paradise once, but now its hell._ Fires burned unchecked through the forest ahead of them, sulfur and smoke choked the air and she spotted a skyscraper over the tree line crumbling as its wounds overcame its engineering, and it plunged down into the forest below.

Her helmets built in radio crackled and Nihlus's voice spoke into her ear. "This place has been hit hard, Commander. Hostiles are everywhere. Keep your guard up."

She flickered the "transmission received" icon on her H.U.D and jerked a hand at the rest of her squad motioning for them to fan out further into the glade the Normandy had used as the drop point.

She quickly knelt and started assembling the "Drag-Fly" drone snapping the main chassis to the camera mount and the micro mass effect core. Absently listening to her squad as she hooked power lines and date feed into places. " What in the Hell are those." _That must be Alenko_ she thought _its even noted in his file that he's squeamish. _"Gas bags don't worry they're harmless." she heard Jenkins reply. She looked up to spot the creature that they were talking about as she initialized the drone. The creatures certainly were odd she admitted. Spindly little limbs and goggling red eyes suspended beneath the organ that had given the creatures there name.

She signalled the rest of the squad to fall in. Alenko brining up the rear as he cast a distrustful glance over his shoulder at the critter. Toggling a new icon on her H.U.D, setting the drone to fly point roughly 150 meters ahead of them. "Alrighty everyone lets hit it. The drone should give us some margin for error in regards to hostiles but it cost us a couple minutes assembling." She set out at the head of the small group watching the drones feed as it casually dropped markers on her map. She side stepped a body it had detected hidden in the long grass, Trying not to look to closely at it. Apparently Jenkins hadn't been able to do the same as he let out a pained cry. _He may have known that person once. Although who can tell now?_

They hadn't proceeded far just up a small knoll and through some brush when the drone started shrilling warnings and pasting hostile icons all over her map. She watched as it jinked rapidly left and right in the centre of the buds little blue field. The icons read as U.F.O, and seeing as the sky above them wasn't filled with a warship or a suspicious flying disk she had to assume that meant the dragon fly had encounter drones deployed by the enemy.

Cursing under her breath Shepard muttered that "at this rate we'll never catch up with Nihlus" Grudgingly she held up her fist signalling the rest of the squad to stop and pinged the warning to their own H. . They nodded their understanding. The little drone was buzzing a rapid retreat back towards them the enemies in close pursuit. They found what little cover they could hunkering down in the grass or leaning up behind rocks and trees. Shepard herself only had a moment to snug her rifle against her shoulder before she heard the screech of weapons fire and the drone skittered low out of the trees dodging a flurry of cyan energy bolts. Its pursuers swing out of the trees themselves moments later. _Huh more like flying saucers than i thought._ she quirked a grim smile and signalled the squad to engage.

_Apparently even drones can get target fixation._ The drones didn't even spot the human soldiers until their firearms roared to life. Her Lancer hammered against her shoulder and a cluster of white hot mass accelerator rounds leaped out across the distance and slammed against the hostile drones woefully inadequate barriers. She pulled the trigger again and the barriers flared and failed, a rough hole appearing in the small machines hull as it slammed to the ground. Two more of the drones dropped in rapid succession. She saw a streak of bluish waves lash out like a whip and slap the final drone aside. Alenko lashing out with his biotic abilities.

She checked her rifles heat sink indicator. Its was gradually creeping down from 15% capacity. Pleased she signaled her own drone to resume its patrol pattern and signalled the squad to advance slowly. They reached the edge of the clearing and paused for only a moment to examine one of the fallen drones. Roughly a meter long and a half meter wide the drones were roughly ovular grey saucers. A now dim blue eye traced its forward most edge and a complex apparatus hung a single barrel gun beneath it.

Spotting a ravine about a klick ahead through a sparsely wooded glen she signalled Alenko to take Arenchkov and Jenkins around to the left of where a path lead down into it. Jenkins formed up on her as they proceed around the opposite side, as a small herd of gas bags glided there way noxiously across the path in front of them. Stepping over a discarded container the little drone squealed yet another alert. An obstruction in the middle of the ravine. It read as a militia transport truck. She paused and clicked on her tight beam line to Alenko where he had paused across the way. "Alenko the drones kicking up a fuss again. A militia vehicle is wrecked in the ravine ahead of us. Proceed with caution. It'd be an excellent way to lure us into an ambush." He waved and a small green icon flashed at her from the bottom left of her helmet. He understood. He signaled his team and they disappeared from sight again.

As they approached the drone had stopped, buzzing about the wreckage. She spotted something it had missed. The creatures which had destroyed the vehicle in the first place, not a hundred meters deeper into the ravine. They were dragging a struggling but wounded militiaman towards a pile of field equipment they had assembled nearby. The beings were unquestionably synthetic in origin. Standing a little taller than the average man they were constructed of the same grey alloy as the drones. A single wide aperture like eye sat at the end of a long almost serpentine neck. The arms and legs were heavily plated, but thick corded muscle like cabling made up the structure beneath, and ending in three digits each. A Comm antenna extended upwards from their somewhat humped backs. The pair of synthetics each had one hand clamped around one of the mans ankles and gripped a strange bluish rifle in the other free hand.

She was about to signal the squad to assault the robots and rescue the man when she head something. The shriek she now identified with the drones and beneath that… The pounding of feet?

Ashley ran flat out down a brown ditch into the ravine. She had been attempting to make it to the local spaceport tramline when she had been spotted by an enemy patrol. They had sent out a pair of drones to guide them in like hounds after a fox. They had chased her for close to three clicks. Not that she knew that at the time, being mostly focused on running.

They had herded her back almost right back to the dig site, into the ravine just below its southern end. That was when they had finally caught up to her. Her lungs screamed as she struggled to draw in more air and outpace the fliers. But too late one of the drones had started firing at her its gun chattering hungrily. She felt something slam into her back between her shoulder blades, heating it to the point it nearly scalded her. Stumbling from the impact she skidded into the ground. Rolling over onto her back she snapped her pistol up and fired at the drones. A bolt from the heavy pistol slammed dead centre into the first ones eye and it exploded in a hail of shrapnel. She rapidly switched targets, bolts of energy melting the dirt all around her and flaring her barriers. Another burst and some luck. It clipped its stabilizer causing it to careen wildly into the ground. It spun in place attempting to regain control when another burst silenced its alarmed warbling.

She was about to heave a sigh of relief when she heard an enraged screech to her left. A pair of Synthetics had drug a militia man over onto a table like platform where one of them was attempting to subdue him. The other though had noticed her sudden and very loud arrival and swung towards her. She thought that she was finished, the machine had her dead in its sights from less than ten feet away. She saw the other synthetic cuff the militiaman who then slumped against the table. His captor slapped an icon flashing on the platforms control panel and… the man was carried meters into the air by a metal spike that now impaled him killing him instantly. Its work finished the bot swung towards her drawing its own rifle. They advanced menacingly towards her where she lay. _Oh Hell No! They wanna do that to me too!_

She desperately raised her pistol trying to scramble to her feet. BLAM! A rifle shot echoed and the first synthetic jerked to the side its flashlight like head exploding. The second recoiled before…. BANG! it too fell from a rifle shot.

_Uphill the shot came from uphill!_ She Turned and spotted a squad of Alliance Marines Advancing out off a cluster of rocks upslope of her. Five marines. Four in blue one in black. Correction One Black and red.

_Hallelujah! An N7. The Cavalry's arrived._ N7's she knew were only deployed with the Alliances rapid response teams. None of which were currently on Eden Prime last she had heard. She picked herself up and grabbed her rifle from where it had fallen a couple feet away. As the N7 drew closer she got a better look at it.

Her. She realized. N7 is also a woman. Not that that was as uncommon as it once had been, but still Ashley was always glad to run into another woman in uniform. Let alone one who had gained the coveted N7 certification.

The woman surprisingly was at least half a head shorter than herself. She could see a pale white face with grey eyes peering out at her from beneath a fringe of black hair. She sauntered to a halt in front of Ashley. She looked her up and down quickly.

_I should really say something. _ "Thanks for the help" her eyes darted to the woman's lapel "Commander. I didn't think i was gonna make it for a minute there"

The Soldier nodded "You got a name soldier?"

_Oops. _"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. I assume you're the one in charge here ma'am?" she had quickly looked over the other soldiers IFF tags. Two Privates, one Corporal and one Lieutenant otherwise.

"Yup. Staff Commander Jennnifer Shepard of the SSV Normandy." She tilted her head slightly and continued "You Okay Williams. Need any medical attention."

"A few scrapes and burns, nothing too serious." She spotted the dead militiaman and her voice hitched. "Others weren't so lucky." _Like that poor bastard… like my squad._

"We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

"I'm Sorry Williams. Where's the rest of your unit?" The commander interjected sincerely.

"We tried to reach the beacon. But we walked into an Ambush. I don't think any of the others made it." _The only one I didn't see die was Bates_ "I think i'm the only one left."

The Commander was apparently more than a little perceptive. She nodded at her sympathetically. "Don't Blame yourself Williams. In a situation like this there was likely nothing you could have done to save them."

In her head (if not necessarily her heart) she knew this to be true. "Yes Ma'am. We tried to hold our position as long as we could but those things overwhelmed us."

The Commander had sidled over to one of the dead robots. With a push she kicked it over onto its side. "Any idea who we're facing Chief?"

_Frankly I hadn't really stopped to think about it._ She wracked her brain thinking back to her school years and her academy training "I think they must be Geth Ma'am. They're the only synthetics I've ever heard of that can operate independently like this."

The Lieutenant who had wandered over blinked in surprise. But he didn't argue the analysis. "The Geth haven't been seen outside the Perseus Veil in close to…. what two, three hundred years? What are they doing here now?"

"Must be here for the Beacon. The dig site is close just over that rise. It could still be there I suppose." She replied.

The Commander appeared to consider something for a minute. "We could always use some help. Come with us Williams?"

_Absolutely_ "Yes Ma'am." _Time for some payback._

Shepard was impressed by this one. _Lots of guts._ The young woman before her, a woman of perhaps, what twenty-five? twenty-six? , a brunette caucasian. She'd clearly been through eight different kinds of hell in the last day, seen her whole unit die. _But here she is chomping at the bit for revenge._ She nodded her approval. "Alright. Squad salvage any material you can from the truck and these…. Things"

"As for you Gunny what else do you know about the Geth?" The question was met with a _Oh crap!_ expression.

"Uh… Not much ma'am. Just what they told us in high school and at basic. Synthetics. non-organic life forms with a networked artificial intelligence." The Chief apparently had no Idea what that meant. Luckily Shepard did being an Engineer.

_It means they're like a Hive Mind. A Million billion minds distributed across one massive network connection. Each individual (if you can call them that) is a single small scale program. Being so small and simple an individual wouldn't be that much more self aware than your average house cat. However the one advantage that this form of A.I has is that the more of them you network together the smarter they get. One program equals house cat, ten equals an average human. A hundred? Think an Amadeus Mozart and Einstein Love Child with the computational capability of a top of the line super computer._

All of this flitted through her mind at lightning speed. She gestured for Williams to continue. "Created by the Quarians a few centuries back. They were intended to be cheap and reliable labour right? But of course at some point they turned on them, drove them from their homes and into exile. After which they up and disappeared back behind the Perseus Veil and nobodies heard from them until now?

_A disapearing act? And why didn't they wipe the Quarians out? Thats certainly not in character with the blood thirsty bots we're seeing here now…. Interesting._

She was about to ask a follow up question when her comm beeped. A signal from Nihlus. "I've got a lot of burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of Bodies. I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

_Catch up with us eh? Must have encountered more resistance than expected._ "Affrimative Nihlus. Over and out"

She decided whatever else she was going to ask Williams could wait. Turning to the rest of the squad who were not poking around the dead synthetics, she shouted. "Alright. The Beacon's not far ahead. Alenko you take rearguard. The rest of you form up on me." They started jogging down the ravine in the direction Ashley had indicated.

Thankfully the remainder of the ravine was less saturated with hostiles than the rest had been. They made good progress, the dig site coming into view quickly. It lay at the end of slope leading down from the north end of the ravine. A circle of semi rectangular pillars lining the edge of some sort of promenade or roofless pavilion. Stark white stone and metal, smooth and almost featureless in the fashion of all Prothean Architecture. And surrounded by more bodies on spikes. Marines and militiamen.

"Impaling them instead of just shooting them?" Muttered Ashley in disgust "There must be some reason for it." Kaiden's voice piped up over the Comm. "Psychological warfare? Using terror as a weapon?"

"Yeah but why do it while they're still alive. Killing them's not enough? They have to suffer first?"

Shepard spotted a single sentry and ordered the squad to silence. Williams was equipped with a sniper rifle. "Williams you wanna do the honours on that one?" She was answered with a predatory grin. "Gladly." She unslung the rifle, a M-92 Mantis, and started adjusted her scopes. She finished quickly and nodded her readiness. Shepard did one last search looking for any others that might be hiding. Seeing none she held up three fingers and counted down from three. As the last digit dropped a signal lit in Ashleys helmet and she squeezed the trigger. The Rifle barked one loud report and the Geth was flung violently off the wall upon which it had been perched. It hit the ground and didn't get back up.

"Good shot Williams. Now quick lets move." she gave the order to rush the site. The squad streamed through the arches into the main structure.

Which was empty. Shepard glanced over to Williams askance as the rest of the squad except for Alenko fanned out to secure the rest of the building.

"The beacon was right here!?" Ashley muttered in confusion. "They must have moved it." "By who though, our side, or the Geth?" this from Alenko.

"Hard to say for sure I guess. It could have been outside but the last I knew the Geth had successfully already taken the site when they repelled my team." She said bitterly. "I suppose we might find out more at the research camp."

Aside from the soldiers bodies dangling from the spikes Jenn could't spot any more dead. Nobody in diggers kit or an archaeologists getup. "Any survivors you think?" raising a brow at the other two. Ashley just shook her head. "Not here at least. Maybe hiding up at the camp?" Gesturing at a cluster of prefabs clutching the the slopes upper edge.

Shepard nodded. _Only one thing to do then isn't there._ "We make for the camp." She made a command gesture which signalled the squads H. ordering them to rally on the commander. They promptly closed in from where they had been patrolling the ruined courtyard.

She punched in a command and sent the dragon fly ahead. "Ok single file up the slope. I want to secure that camp. Once there we'll radio Nihlus see if we can figure out what to do next." She was just about to nodded the go ahead when Williams raised a hand in query. "Who's this Nihlus guy commander? He sounded alien over that comm call earlier." "Yup, A Turian Spectre. Assigned by the council to oversee the recovery of the beacon." Williams grimaced in response. _Yet another person concerned about the presence of an alien on the mission. go figure._

No other questions forth coming she signalled the advance. They camp came into view as they crested the slope. _Oof. likelihood of survivors dropping._ The majority of the camps prefabs had been overturned, burned or in one case exploded. And the camp was littered with yet more of those spike things. This time many of the bodies were indeed clad in civilian garb.

Ashley whistled sorrowfully under her breath,"looks like the camp got hit hard."

Kaiden took in their surroundings silently. "Good place for an ambush. We should keep our guards up." As if on cue a humming filled the air. _Great__,__ now where is that coming from?_ She turned in a slow arc looking for the source. It was only when a cascade of blue sparks erupted that she spotted the source. One of the impaled bodies a few meters away was crawling with electricity. It's grey skin glowing blue beneath the arcs. With a snap the electricity grew and arced out lashing at another body causing it to start too. It arced twice more with the same results. And then the spikes began to retract. Slowly at first then more rapidly into their bases releasing the bodies to flop off onto the scorched earth. But the bodies did not stay down. Instead as the electrical arcs all along their bodies continued to burn away what little clothing they had left they began to rise to their feet.

"Oh God! They're still alive," cried Kaiden. Nobody moved to aid them though their features which had previously been concealed by their height up in the air came into focus. They were indeed grey skinned now, dead, but what ever had been done to them on the spikes had changed them radically. Glowing blue tubes protruded in and out of their skin, their eyes replaced by glowing sensor clusters. All distinguishing features almost entirely subsumed by the equipment sunk into their bodies. A handful of plates clad their stomachs and backs. And where the spike should have left a great hole in their chest cavity sat some sort of pulsing energy core. The horror of these creatures caused the squad to raise their weapons.

One of the monstrous husks turned to face them. It looked them over for barely a moment before shrieking a monstrous shout and hurling itself at them. The other three whipped about and charged as one. They closed the distance fast, moving almost like sprinters. "Open Fire!" Jenn screamed, her rifle barked and hammered against her chest plate. A chorus of rifle fire rose up from the rest of the squad as well. Somehow the rifle fire seemed inadequate at first. Rounds hammered home tearing at the grey flesh and black metal, and the monstrosities barely staggered. Round after round slammed into the lead husk's chest without slowing it. Finally a round caught it in its skull and it went down. She switched targets drilling the next in line between the eyes. _Great we've got space Zombies now,_ she cursed silently. She turned to engaged yet another to find one already down, the core in its chest ruptured ,spewing electricity all over the ground. The final creature was almost on Private Cheng when his shotgun boomed out hurling it back with a gapping wound in the side of its chest. It tried to stagger forward but the damaged must have been too great and it toppled forward.

She spun about but no more spikes had lowered, and no more husks charged them. "Holy crap, those freaks are tough!" cried Jenkins. Shepard heaved a heavy breath "What were you saying about looking forward to seeing some real action Jenkins?"

He looked chagrined. "Yeah, no kidding ma'am. Next time I should just keep my mouth shut."

"Look at it this way, Now we know what the spikes are for. Turning our dead against us," this from the usually stoic Arenchkov.

"Alright everybody spread out and search the buildings, but keep an eye out on those corpses, shoot them before they get back up." This order was greeted with enthusiasm. Nobody wanted to get charged by another one of those horrors.

Jenn made her way through first one prefab, then another. She was about to leave the last one and call it quits when she heard muttering from under a secured door.

She marched over to it and listened for a moment. A survivor trying to comfort another. She hammered on the door and was greeted by a frightened squeak. _Right watch the loud noises around massacre survivors. Come on Jenn you should know that better than anyone after Mindior._ "Alliance Marines! Open up!"

There was a pause then a flurry of scraping furniture. The door slid open revealing an aging pair of scientists. The first, a woman with greying red hair. The second, a balding middle aged man who cringed away from the sudden light.

"Human. Thank the maker!" cried the woman. As Ashley and Kaiden ran into the room following the shouting. Her companion seemed less enthused tugging at the fabric of her shirt nervously "Quick, close the door before they come back!"

Jenn tried to comfort him. "Don't worry, your safe now, we'll protect you." The woman nodded gratefully " Don't worry, you should be fine now. It looks like they've moved on."_ If you count leaving a pack of robo-zombies to cover your exit "Moving on"._

Ashley chose that moment to break in. "Your doctor Warren right? The one in charge of the excavation. You were the ones my team were supposed to meet. Any idea what happened to the beacon?"

Doctor Warren looked confused "A team was sent to move it? But that makes no sense it was moved this morning to the spaceport. I, Manuel and some of the others stayed behind to pack camp?" _Somebody orders the beacon moved without telling the brass and orders a squad into an empty dig site where they're killed. More than a little suspicious. Not to mention weird._

"We hid here when the attack came. The Marines held them off long enough for Manuel and me to make it to cover. I have no doubt that they saved our lives.

Somehow this set off her companion "NO ONE IS SAVED!" He shrieked "THE AGE OF HUMANITY IS ENDED! SOON ONLY RUIN AND CORPSES SHALL REMAIN!" He was practically slavering by the end of this.

Jenn just shook this off and turned her attention back to Doctor Warren. "Can you tell us anything else about the attack?" _Speak to the sane one Jenn. Speak to the sane one._

Doctor Warren shook her head sadly. "It all happened so quickly. One second we were gathering equipment, the next we were running for this shed while those things swarmed the camp."

"Agent of the Destroyer!" Hissed Manuel "Bringers of darkness! Heralds of Extinction!" Jenn shook her head _This is gonna get real old real quick. Okay fine what about finding Nihlus?_

She changed tacts "Have you seen a Turian around?" She asked hopefully. But no such luck again the jittery little man started up. "I saw Him! The Prophet! Leader of the Enemy. He was here before the Attack." _No punching crazy people. No punching crazy people._

"That's impossible," interjected Kaiden frustration tinging his voice. "Nihlus was with us on the Normandy before the Attack . He couldn't have been here."

"I'm Sorry" said Doctor Warren trying to calm her friend patting him on the back. "Manuel's been… unsettled since the attack. We haven't seen your Turian."

"Alright one last question then you two can rest." "What do you know about the beacon? Doctor Warren's eyes brightened with scholarly fire. "It's the date module for some kind of galaxy wide communications network. Remarkably well preserved considering. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our life time! Miraculous new technology? Groundbreaking medical advances? Who knows whats locked inside."

"We have unlocked the heart of Evil" Declared her compatriot. "Awakened the beast. Unleashed the Darkness."

Doctor Warren deflated and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Hush Manuel, now isn't the time!" She noticed Shepard's expression "Manuel has a brilliant mind. But he's always been a bit…" she paused looking for the right word. "Unstable, madness and genius are two sides of the same coin."

"Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!" He heaved a long breath to continue and suddenly to the surprise of all he collapsed.

"Uh…." said Ashley Queen of the witty response. Then to all of their additional surprise he started snoring.

Doctor Warren was looking sheepish. "I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack. I had been expecting them to kick in sooner." _About ten minutes too late. But can't argue with results._

Jenn sighed. "Well, I think it's about time we broke silence and tried to contact Nihlus and the Normandy."

Warren smiled slightly "Good luck Commander. I hope you find what your looking for." Shepard turned towards her squad mates and made a link to the Normandy.

"Shepard to Normandy. We found a pair of survivors marking their location for retransmission. Shepard out." _Better keep it short just in case._

She had been about to link to Nihlus, when he contacted her himself. "Change of plans Shepard. Theres a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."

She sen't an Acknowledgement and prepared to leave the little shelter. Doctor Warren tended to the unconscious Manuel in the corner. _What scared the little man so much? The situation is bad I'll admit but…. Is it just madness or did he see something?_


	3. Chapter 3: Eden Prime Part II

Quick Note: Meant to have this out yesterday. However I ran into some "technical" difficulties. As always reviews would be welcome. I want to know how I'm doing folks. Good or bad.

P.S Still looking for a Beta Readers. Any Volunteers?

_**But for the Grace of God Chapter 3**_

Among all the devastation and burning skyscrapers it was easy to forget that Eden Prime was primarily a farming colony; over ninety percent of its citizens working in the agricultural industry. The towers being great communal housing developments catering to said farms staffing needs. The spaceport they were now heading to was at the heart of a small farming conglomerate's housing development. Even from a distance of several klicks they could see dozens of prefabs, on fire of course, as well as the port itself and the tram station that served to haul produce to the ships waiting in their berths.

Ashley had led them away from the research camp and toward the small settlement. It took only a minute of searching to discover a small band of survivors camped out in a previously abandoned outbuilding. Shepard set the squad's junior members to patrol the perimeter and banged on the door, "Alliance Marines!" she cried.

"Hold on! We're coming out. We're not armed," called a masculine voice. The door creaked open and the small cadre shuffled out with their hands in the air. **_Okay Seriously. I know we carry guns and wear some serious body armour, but what is it about the general public that they assume all soldiers are just itching to blow them away?_**

A mousy looking woman peered out from behind the spokesman. "Is it safe, are they gone?" obviously referring to the Geth. Shepard tried to keep them calm. "Its alright. You're safe now. You can lower your arms by the way, were not gonna shoot you."

"Those things were crawling all around the shed! I assume it was you guys who drove them off about half an hour ago?"

"Nope wasn't us, at least us specifically." **_Perhaps Nihlus?_** "But it could have been some other friendlies passing through."

"When we saw that ship this morning we thought it was all over." This came from the woman.

"Can you tell me everything you know about the attack?" Shepard asked kindly; the spokesman spoke up. "We were tending the crops when it showed up," he indicated the still smouldering waste that surrounded the small building. "When we saw it we just ran. I don't know what happened to the rest of the crew; didn't see where they went."

At this, the third member of the party, a quiet man who had been standing in the shadows till then, spoke up, "Last I heard they were working at the primary garage by the main spaceport." He paused, a dark expression settling on his face. "Right about where that ship came down..." He didn't need to continue. **_Most likely dead, _**summarized Jenn in her head. The woman was distressed. "You don't know that!" she shouted in denial hearing the unstated message the man had withheld. "We made it! If they managed to get to the garage they could have had a chance." The man didn't look comforted or convinced, but didn't deny the possibility either.

Shepard thought back to the brief glimpses of the ship that they had spotted in the distress signal Ashley's unit had broadcast. "Do you know anything else about the ship?"

"No. I was too busy running to get a really clear look at it," admitted the first man. "Looked like it landed somewhere near the spaceport though."

The woman jerked at the cloth of his shirt, "Tell them about that noise Cole, that awful noise." **_Okay so the spokesman's name is Cole, but what is this about the noise?_**

**_"_**It was emitting some kind of signal as it descended. Sounded like the shriek of the damned. Only it was coming from inside your own head." Shepard looked askance at Williams. She nodded, "Yeah, I remember that. It was brief but I heard it and it was significantly farther away than these guys."

"Could it be some sort of jamming signal?" Jenn directed this at Williams as well as the farmers. Cole spoke up again, "I have no clue what a jamming signal would sound like. All I know is, it was tearing right through my skull. Made it just about impossible to think." Ashley nodded agreement.

Jenn looked over toward the auxiliary spaceport which was cloaked in smoke. "Alright, Nihlus is waiting on us, we'd better hurry up and rendezvous with him."

She nodded thanks to the farmers and was just about to turn away from them when she heard the second man speak to Cole, "Cole, we're just a bunch of farmers. These guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff. I'm sure they could use it." **_Stuff? _**She caught Coles expression out of the corner of her eye, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He whirled on the other man masking embarrassment with anger. "Jeez Blake! You need to know when to shut up!" he yelled irately.

She crossed her arms under her breastplate and stared the increasingly sheepish Cole in the eyes. "Something you want to tell me about?"

He sighed in evident defeat. "Some guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring. Nothing major," he hurried to assure them seeing their expressions. "In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds is all"

"Which is why you ran here instead of the garage right?" she said, letting a cynical edge creep into her voice.

"Come on now, it isn't like that. We knew there'd be somethin' we could use in the packages," he motioned Blake to retrieve one as evidence. "Found a pistol, figured it might come in handy if those things showed up. You'll probably get more use out of it than we will," he said, rummaging in the box produced.

He presented the pistol to her. A Stiletto-class heavy pistol from Haliat Armouries, serious hardware. "Nothing major eh cole? Was their anything else?" she wondered out loud. He nodded hurriedly, eager to please the now sour looking soldier in front of him. "Found something else. I was gonna sell it when this was over but it'd probably be better if you take it." He placed an ammo block in her hand and her suits sensors shrieked a warning. **_Seriously? Polonium Rounds. What? Are the smugglers nuts?_** Polonium rounds were illegal pretty much everywhere except the Batarian Hegemony and some of the more criminal Terminus systems. This was because the weapons, even if not immediately lethal, caused horrendous suffering before they killed you. It hit you with a lethal amount of radiation sending your body rapidly into fevers, seizures and organ failure.

She pinged the warning to Ashley who scowled noticeably. "Who's your contact at the port Cole?" she demanded, "What's his name!"

"He's not a bad guy, really! I don't want him to get in trouble." he drew himself up and a defiant spark gleamed in his eye, "besides, I ain't no snitch!"

"Your friend was illegally importing not only military grade weapons," Shepard said, holding the pistol up his face. "And ammo which is banned by both Citadel, and Alliance convention because it's composed of weapons grade radiologicals." Coles eyes got wide at that. "You sure you don't want to rethink your answer? What is a "good guy" doing with such materiel just prior to a planetary invasion?"

The defiant gleam was immediately snuffed out and replaced by a desperate one. "Yeah, okay. You're right. His name's Powell. Works the docks at the spaceport. If he's still alive!" he blurted out in a rush.

Shepard just shook her head and glanced at her suit's chronometer. **_Times a wasting Jenn._** "I have to go. Come on Ashley" They turned leaving a very confused Cole to be shouted at by his compatriots.

She rallied the team and addressed them, "Alright, we've killed too much time here, we have to hurry. I'm going to set the drone to deep recon; we're gonna double time it to that spaceport. Move it!"

They started off at a brisk jog down a road that lead to the port. Thankfully the port wasn't all that far and it came into view as they ran. Concrete, white plasticized steel, massive He3 fuel cells for refuelling the ships that landed, and a whole mess of blind corners. She signalled the team to halt about ten meters from the gates, and switched her H.U.D to allow for first person control of the drone, the drone's feed filling her vision. She brought up her omni tool controls around her palms and began to edge the drone forward lowering its altitude as it passed through the main arch and into a wide loading dock. Crates and shipping containers littered the deck.

She shifted the drone this way and that scanning the surrounding for Geth or any sign of Nihlus. Nothing. She shifted the drone forward past the first two rows of containers and scanned again. This time more luck. There were no Geth that she could see but the drone's audio sensors where now picking up noise, its onboard computer interpreting it as muffled voices. She advanced the drone above the container wall in front of her and bingo.

Nihlus…, and another Turian? Nihlus was plenty tall but the other guy was even bigger. Wearing grey, almost Geth-like armour and a black cowl, he towered over even Nihlus. The two were facing each other speaking urgently, a pile of dead husks around them. "This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?" Nihlus asked. The other extended an arm and patted the smaller Turian on the shoulder. "The council thought you could use some help with this one. You may be an experienced Spectre but you have never been responsible for a recruitment Nihlus." This was said pleasantly enough, however something itched at the back of Shepard's mind about him. "I wasn't expecting to find Geth on a Training mission, who would?" He shrugged past Saren, his back to the taller Turian. Saren just placed his hands on his hips. **_Very Near his gun. Ah Hell he's not about to..._** Saren's hand lifted again, this time hefting a pistol. "Don't worry i've got it under control," he said, pointing his gun at the back of Nihlus' head. She slammed the drone into a dive toward Saren's back. Its engines squealing, she yelled to her squad, "SQUAD ALL FORWARD, NIHLUS IS UNDER ATTACK!" The noise of the drone caught the Turians' attention and both turned to look at the little machine. Saren dodged and the drone went wide. But Nihlus had spotted the threat from Saren's gun which had been pointed at his head when he turned about. Nihlus dove to the side but Saren was tracking him again. A pair of shots rang out and twin sprays of blood exploded from Nihlus' chest plate. Shepard used the drone to buzz Saren again but this time he was expecting it, swinging about and raising his gun. A flash and the drone feed cut out.

Shepard slapped her helmet's visor control shutting off the static, charging after her squad as she heard a flurry of gunfire. Alliance weapons from the sounds of it. **_Just in time too, from the look of things. _**Nihlus was down, significant amounts of blood pooling around him but he was still struggling to rise. **_One tough bird._** Apparently her squad had interrupted Saren trying to make the kill. They traded fire with him as he retreated toward one of the train terminals. A squad of Geth moved to block the pursuing marines. At least two had traversed up the side of some shipping containers and were firing down at her squad, forcing them to take cover. She caught the first by surprise, stitching a line of shots up its abdomen, causing it to rupture explosively. The minor blast shook off the second Geth's aim, allowing part of the squad to break cover and open fire. A staccato of rifle fire erupted. The Geth went down in pieces.

As Shepard closed she could see another group of Geth advancing on the squad's left flank. She hit the side of a container wall and shook a grenade loose of its pouch on her belt. She popped the pin and shouted the obligatory warning to her squad, "Grenade out!" and flung it. The grenade bounced to a halt at the feet of a Geth painted all white. The unit hurried to pick up the grenade and toss it back but too late. Badoom! The explosion thumped and all that was left of the Geth trio were fragments.

Glancing around for additional contacts, Shepard hurried to where Nihlus lay. He was still struggling to sit up against a concrete partition, his hand clutching at one of the wounds in his side. He spotted her and tried to waving her off. "G-go Shepard. Catch Saren. Find out what he has to do with all this…. I'll be fine." But she could clearly tell he would not. Whatever kind of pistol Saren had been using had blown two holes completely through Nihlus' torso's body armour and, judging by the blood he was trailing all over that partition, straight out the back, too. She just shook her head, "Not alone you won't." She turned and shouted to her squad who were forming a loose perimeter, "Alenko, over here with the med-kit."

He hurried over and started laying out his supplies. Nihlus tried to push him away as he moved to inject some medigel into the wounds to stem the bleeding. "Shepard, you need to catch Saren! He must know what's going on here!"

"I know, but I'm leaving Alenko and Jenkins to watch you. I'll take the rest to go after him." Nihlus appeared to be about to object again but she silenced him with a shake of her head and a glare that would shatter granite, "Thats not up for discussion Spectre; now stay down and let Alenko patch you up. I'll let Normandy know where to find you." She got up from where she had hunkered down beside him and distributed her orders. When her squad indicated they all understood, she connected with the Normandy, "Shepard to Normandy. Spectre Nihlus has been critically injured and requires immediate evac. I have left Lieutenant Alenko and Corporal Jenkins to attend him. The rest of the team and I will press forward." She paused waiting for the acknowledgement light which was a few moments in coming. "Shepard Out."

She signalled what was left of her team and started running toward the train station at the end of the pier. The first train had left, presumably carrying Saren wherever he was fleeing to. The second train still sat in its berth. They rushed toward it and quickly boarded. "Ma'am, do we even know where he went?" asked Williams. **_Have to admit, that's a good question._** "Assuming he's allied with the Geth, for whatever reason, the most likely place he would retreat is to their ship, which happens to be parked where those doctors thought the beacon had been moved." Williams nodded, finding no serious fault with the reasoning. They shouldered their way into the train's control room. Jenn brought up the control board. It was encrypted with a lock of course, but that was merely to dissuade any random citizen from going on a joy ride. It stood no chance against the military grade bypass built into her omnitool.**_ Okay,… All Aboard. _** The train gave a jerk, then started to accelerate along the tracks and out of the station.

As they sped on, the small tract of urban sprawl gave way back into forests, meadows and the occasional farm. She read the feed on the train's dash. "Ok guys, seven minutes to destination. Grab a bite or a swig of water. We're likely to run into resistance at the primary spaceport terminal." Ashley politely declined but Cheng and Arenchkov dug into some M.R.E's they had stored on their persons.

They came around the curve of a hill when they were about five minutes out and the spaceport came into view, along with its illegally docked occupier. **_It really is uncanny how much that ship resembles a giant crustacean. _**The titanic vessel even towered over the local skyscrapers. If the rangefinder on her helmet was accurate, the thing towered at roughly two thousand meters tall. Composed of ever so slightly blueish black metal plates, the thing stood on five great claw-like legs and a bundle of small secondary legs lined the spine of its carapace-like primary hull. The forward central ridge of the ship's hull glowed an unearthly combination of reds and blues. It seemed like its foremost leg was straddled by a quartet of eye-like glowing red orbs. If the sight of the monstrous craft was not horrible enough all on its own, it was surrounded by a swirling swarm of smaller craft. These resembled wasps or hornets made out of the greyish metal that Geth constructs seemed to favour.

"God,… look at the size of it," Ashley whispered quietly. "When I first saw it I couldn't believe it." she shook her head. "Look, it's doing something!" she cried.

Indeed the ship had shifted almost like an animal hunkering down on its haunches, coiled waiting for a moment, it then launched itself up using the spring power of its legs to take flight. As it reached the apex of its leap, great engines sparked along its back and thrust it up into the sky, a swarm of cohort swirling to follow it up. So great was the vessel's thrust that a moment later a blast of air swept across the ground toward them and shook the train on its tracks.

**_Well, that can't be good._** "I hope that doesn't mean they got what they came for." **_If so it means the beacon is gone and with it likely Saren as well. _**They curved around final hill and the spaceport itself came into view. It was in and of itself the most intact structure they'd seen all day. No fires burned within, no out buildings had collapsed. However, as they drew near they could see obviously non-human forms scurrying this way and that along walkways and gantries.

"Resistance ahead, prepare to repel invaders!" announced Shepard, unslinging her rifle again. Almost on cue the forward windscreen of the train shattered as bolts started to course towards them. She crouched behind the dash and started firing as the train slowed its approach and started to grind to a halt in front of the loading area.

She knocked down one of the sentries but was surprised when a Geth ran past behind her, completely ignoring the incident and ducked back around a corner. **_Have they been ordered to fall back? Perhaps they're preparing for a final extraction?_**

They dove out of the now thoroughly ventilated train and onto the platform. Another pair of Geth soldiers fell and yet the majority of the Geth streaming by on the concourse in front of them ignored the arrival of the marine detachment. Shepard's team progressed toward the ramp, firing on the few remaining sentinels who remained to cover their retreating comrades. **_If all those Geth had turned on us the moment we engaged they could have significantly slowed our advance. Instead they continue on as if nothing mattered more than getting where they were going. _**A small pit of dread settled in the bottom of her stomach. **_Why?_**

As they reached the top of the ramp it became apparent why. The Geth were fleeing to escape the trap they had set for their pursuers. The few that remained had been sacrificed to assure that the marines would be caught in it. **_One great big eff'n bomb._** It sat right in the middle of the concourse invisible to those who approached from below. **_Shhhhhhhiiiiiiiiittttttttt._** It was complex and large, her suit for the second time that day warbled a radiological alarm. A nuke!

"Bombs! The Geth must have planted them!" **_No crap Ashley…. wait plural?_** Jenn searched and saw at least four more bombs of similar size scattered about the concourse, all linked to the one before them. **_Whooee! They really want us dead. The colony dead?_**

Shepard ran up to the nearest bomb to determine whether or not it could be disarmed. To her vast relief it appeared that it could, the design actually being familiar to her. Turian it appears, as opposed to Geth. Saren's little contribution to the endeavour, which meant it would be difficult, but not impossible. It would just take some time. **_Too much time?_**

"Alright, I'm gonna disarm these just give me a couple minutes," Shepard said. **_Even trying to catch Saren or finding the beacon take a back seat compared to these. How many megatons….? Oh,…That many. _**She glanced up and saw a group of lurching figures stagger into the room. **_Great, the Geth haven't given up on us getting caught with them. They sent disposable assets to assure it._** "Husks!" she cried, causing her squad to spin towards the direction she was pointing over the bomb. "Hold them off while I work." A howl rose from the oncoming swarm which was answered by a roar of weapons fire.

She yanked open another access panel and pulled a bundle of wires gently out into the sunlight. A boom echoed in her ears and one of the husks flew back into its comrades, bowling them over. A beep resounded from her wrist almost giving her a heart attack. It was just her comm unit. She nudged her helmet's answer button with her chin. "I'm kinda busy right now Alenko," she barked. "It sure sounds like it commander, but it's important." he didn't pause to wait for her response, "We found that smuggler the farmers were mentioning!" he said brightly despite the gunfire which was no doubt audible over the mike. "That's great Alenko…." He interrupted again while she snipped through three of the wires causing another panel too pop. "We questioned him. We've determined he's not involved as near as we can tell in the attack," he said proudly. Again she opened her mouth to cut him off. "but the really good news is that he was hiding here on the loading dock and witnessed the incident with Nihlus."

"That's great too Kaiden!" this time she cut him off before she could continue, trying to sort a bunch of identical red wires in her fingers, "but I'm kinda busy trying to disarm a cluster of seventy megaton nuclear bombs that have been strapped to our planet. So do you mind if I call you back?" There was a pause as Alenko tried to discern whether or not she was being serious. "Uh, right,….yeah i'll let you get back to it Commander," he replied sheepishly and his line clicked off, but not before she heard a murmured question, to which a reply of "yeah the Commander busy disarming nukes…." was heard.

**_If it weren't so serious it'd be funny,_** she thought. She glanced at the timer her omnitool had started displaying as she opened up the bomb, two minutes….

She hurried up. Opening a final panel to find a cluster of wiring in a colour she'd never even heard of before. A motion caught her attention, out of the corner of her eye a husk had been flung over the railing onto the tracks below.

**_Focus Jenn, focus! Third from the right three down. Now assuming that the thing is based on Turian tradition…..That one! The puke coloured one! _**She cut the final wire with a knife from her belt, and with a low whine the bomb's computer wound down, killing the detonator.

She breathed sigh of relief. "Bomb disarmed!" she called. As she looked up, the squad was standing on mountain of dead Husks and Geth. A final, particularly ugly specimen tumbled to the floor and Ashley pumped an expended heat sink out of her shotgun. "The others dead too?" from a very nervous and sweaty looking private Cheng. "Yup!" she said brightly. She got up and dusted off her gloves and strolled over to the closest map of the port. "Oooh look, the closest wharf has been shut down to accommodate "SPECIAL CARGO", how convenient!" **_Calm down Jenn, the adrenalin is making you loopy again,_** she told herself. She heaved a sigh, collecting herself into a more stoic facade. "Let's go see if it's still there or if that big bastard took it when it decided to dash."

She stepped over the small mountain of dead synthetics. Surprisingly, the entrance to the dock was only a hundred or so feet further down a side boulevard. Before them was a wide open space beyond the docks which had been scorched clean by thrusters of the capital ship's engines, as it had taken off. Smashed Skyscrapers and ruined train lines dotted the landscape before them.

On a more encouraging, yet surprising note, the object of their desire sat in plain view on the largely empty dock space.

**_They wouldn't have split unless they got what they wanted, not with that much firepower to back them up. So why is it still here? _**She considered this as she closed on it; a deceptively simple looking object, a pillar secured to a curved base with glowing green motes of power along its two main faces. **_So assuming they got what they wanted…. they don't need it anymore. Those bombs weren't just here to fry us. They were here to destroy the beacon. Glad I could disappoint them._**

She circled the beacon in a wide arc searching for any sign of a trap. None that she could see. She brought up her omnitool. Nothing her sensors could see? She sighed in relief. The mission wasn't a total wash then. Ashley stepped up beside her,

"Amazing…Actual working protean technology." The object sat before them humming with energy, an access console flickering into life as they stepped near. "Although it wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up, if I remember it correctly," she said to no one in particular.

Shepard nodded and patted her on the shoulder in what she hoped was an encouraging manner and turned away. Cheng and Arenchkov stood off to the side clearly congratulating each other on the small victory. She activated her link to the Normandy, "Shepard to Normandy. Beacon is secure. But the situation is more complicated than previously thought. We require immediate evac. Over?" She waited for a moment. "Acknowledged Commander. Can you clarify as to the complication?" this was Anderson's voice over the comm. She considered the events that had transpired over the last day or so. "Negative Captain. It'll be easier to explain in person. Over." A pause. "Understood Commander. We're on our way." "Roger Normandy, standing by," she sighed in relief.

She turned to declare the mission a success to her team but was startled to see Ashley flailing madly at the beacon. Her arms waved wildly at it as her feet slid along the ground toward it, a green wave of energy washing over her. She cursed and started to sprint towards the gunnery chief. **_Saren must have booby trapped it after all…_** The thing nearly had Ashley to its base. Shepard leapt, her body slamming into Ashley's forcing her out of the beacon's grasp.

However, unlike Ash, her body did not tumble to the ground outside the green waves. She gave a startled cry. The beacon had released Ashley only to snatch her instead. She heard bewildered and anguished shouts behind her, "Shepard!"

She flailed at the device and a wave of energy arced out of it into her. Her spine arched painfully making an audible crack. More voices from behind her, increasingly faint over the machine's noises. **_Inside my head? _**She tried to cry out in alarm, but suddenly it was not merely voices. It was images.

A snapshot of flesh rending, a mouth grimacing in agony, its teeth flashing in the light. A great star of metal twisting in the glow of the nebula. Running figures pursued by dark phantoms behind them. Screams that made her skull feel as though it was being torn apart ran throughout the images as they flashed past. Metal clamping onto meat causing it to bleed excessively. Synthetic voices chattering. Figures writhing in fire surrounded by the phantoms from before… And finally, before a great light like the heart of an ancient star, the Ship. The one that had just abandoned Eden Prime and scorched its earth, ascending up through the clouds in the transmission like a great claw. A cry rose up as it approached, drowning out all other noise like the rumble of a stampede of great feet or the roar of horrible beast. The Images repeated flashing too fast to catch them all. **_No it's too much… _**she pleaded silently with whoever would listen for it to stop. A voice, this time murmuring something she could not understand under it all, a growing light that seared her mind and burned her flesh. Her Sight flashed white, and pain arced through her whole body as she blacked out and knew no more.


	4. Chapter 4: Citadel Part I

Authors Note:

Chapter may be a bit slower in coming out for a while. I'm head back to school for a term. This Chapter has only been partially edited, but don't worry I'll be posting the improved version when I can. Otherwise Reads, reviews, and follows people. Let me Know you want me to keep doin' this thing.

-Rhys

_**But for the Grace of God Chapter 4**_

John Shepard buckled his belt back up and pulled his shirt. He turned back to speak to Sha'ira the Asari woman was getting decent on the other side of the bed. Sha'ira was what the Asari referred toad a Consort. A combination of Wise councillor, Psych therapist, prostitute and in rare cases like Sah'ira fortune tellers of a sort. John was not one for casual sex but he always accepted it as part of the services at the consorts salon. Asari an all female race, were almost ubiquitously beautiful by human standards. The Asari were virtually identical to humans physically only a handful of outward differences. Firstly they were blue with velvety soft skin composed of what was essentially micro scales. The Other Glaring differences where that where humans had hair and ears, Asari had tentacles which swept back from their forehead along the scalp into a sort of cluster of tips at the very back of their heads, and aural cavities where ears would be. They also a thin barely noticeable ridge of cartilage ridges reaching down out of the base of their skulls down to the mid back. The faint remnants of what may have at one time been a dorsal ridge perhaps, the Asari being descended from Aquatic mammalian creatures.

Sha'ira was exceptional even in a race of great beauties. And at several hundred years old (about middle aged for Asari) she was also exceptionally wise. So aside from the more physical favours which had been exchanged she had advised John as she always did. However unlike any time before she had also given him a gift and warnings. The gift a beautiful ancient Prothean amulet in pristine condition and the warnings that he would likely need the amulet soon, and another that his family would need him direly so when they called, listen.

"Thank you again for your time Consort. May I ask a question before I go?" Sha'ira ever the gracious host inclined her head regally. "Do you know where I may need this amulet? What about when my family will need my help?"

"I am sorry John but I merely feel it instinctively that you and those important to you would need that amulet someday soon. And as to the other you may want to check on the status of your sister tonight when you get home after your meeting with Admiral Kohoku."

John merely shook his head nobody kept secrets from the consorts. Not Alliance Admirals, not even the Council. If someone ever learned to truly exploit that they'd have some of the best intel the galaxy had ever seen. Shai'ra was just good enough to not spill what she knew to the wrong peoples.

"Thank you again Consort I shall be on my way now" He bowed slightly at the waist as was proper. She smiled "And thank you for taking care of the matter with the Elcor ambassador and the General for me. Have a good day." With this he turned and took his leave out down the stairs and onto the Citadel Presidium.

Lights swirled on the other side of her eyelids making her headache worsen. **_What happened?_** Shepard struggled to figure out why she was so sore she could hardly move. She struggled to claw her way towards fuller consciousness, something holding her down. A series of beeps startled her forcing her eyes open despite the light. The headache had amplified the noise until it too, was painful.

Apparently she wasn't the only one who had heard the racket. "Doctor!" A voice called sounding alarmed. **_Doctor? What Doctor? _**"Doctor Chakwas! I think she's waking up!" The voice called excitedly. This time she recognized the voice. At least she thought she did. **_Ashley Williams? Who's that….._** Finally some memories clawed their way up to the top. Eden Prime. The beacon, the mission, and getting cold cocked by the ancient device.

A white haired head poked into her view and she felt a sensation of movement and the face came more fully into view. **_Thats right. Doctor Chakwas Chief Physician on the SSV Normandy. I must be in the med bay._** The doctor flickered a light in the palm of her hand into Shepards eyes. She groaned weakly in response. **_Why must that be the first thing doctors do when you wake up?_**

"Yes, Yes Commander, grumble like a bear all you want i'm still going to check you over," hided the English accented voice. And she felt a hand help her sit up on the bed. "You had us quiet worried there, Shepard. How Are you feeling." The Doctor grasped her arm just above the wrist checking her blood pressure manually, watching the clock on her omni tool carefully.

"I feel like I got ran over by a bus…" She muttered her hand going to her side which felt painful. "How bad am I? How long was I out?" She asked trying to shake the pain induced haze in her mind. "One Broken and two separated ribs, one fractured tibia, a concussion and a grand mal seizure. I took care of the seizures and the concussion but there is only so much I can do right now without a full surgery for the bones. They've been set and splinted though, and I gave you a liberal application of medigel though so no risk of infection. Just don't overdue it the next few days and the bone should begin to knit soon enough." The Doctor paused to check her chronometer more closely. "As to how long since your were knocked flat? Fifteen Hours Commander."

Here Ashley, who had been standing back letting the Doctor work stepped forward. Her hair which had been rucked up in her helmet back on Eden prime was done up in a tight bun at the back of her head. "That was my fault Commander. I must have triggered a security system when I got close to it. You had to tackle me out of the way." The Chief looked ashamed. **_Not a bad apology. I suppose. Taking responsibility._** She groaned and swung her aching legs over the side of the table and grunted a little as her fractured tibia complained. "Don't blame yourself too much Williams you couldn't have known that was going to happen."

Ashley looked down a small smile softening her expression pleasantly. **_Happy i'm not ripping her a new one I suppose._** Doctor Chakwas broke in here for a moment "Actually, we don't even know if that's what set it off. Unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out. The beacon was completely destroyed as I understand it."

"That explosion looked like a system overload maybe. The blast knocked you cold, But you already knew that. When the Normandy finally showed up Lieutenant Alenko helped me haul you aboard."

"I appreciate it. Lying there on the concrete would'a made my butt go numb." Shepard trying to convey gratitude. Ashley smiled again, a little laughter sparkling in her eyes for a brief moment. "And we couldn't have that now could we ma'am."

Doctor Chakwas chuckled to but then tried to steer them back on course. "Physically you'll heal. However even just prior to your waking up we detected unusual beta waves, And increased R.E.M. Signs typically associated with intense dreaming. "I'm not sure you could call that dreaming. It was just repeats of whatever that thing tried to force into my brain."Jenn replied wryly.

"Death, Destruction, all flashing by really fast. Nothing really clear." She supplied watching their expressions. Doctor Chakwas brought her hand to her chin and hummed thoughtfully. "Well I'm not sure what that means but I should definitely note that in my report just in case." The door to the infirmary opened and they all turned to glance at the newcomer. It was the Captain.

"Captain Anderson" The Doctor nodded to the man. "Hello Doctor how are our patients holding up?" **_Oh right Nihlus!_** She turned to look over her shoulder at the other beds. Her ribs screamed in protest. Nihlus was resting peacefully on the bed at the end of the bay stripped down to a blue hospital gown. Breathing softly. "I would recommend NOT turning like that commander. Not unless you want to spend more time in my care?" Admonished the Brit.

"Sorry Doctor." She mumbled turning back. The Doctor addressed the Captain's question. "Both will recover fully given time. Readings are largely normal now." The Captain acknowledged her with a grateful nod. "I would like to speak with the Commander in private if possible?" It was posed as a question but it was obvious it was an order.

The doctor just nodded and shuffled of to her office at the far end of the bay looking at her data pad. Ashley snapped to attention. "Aye, aye Captain. I'll be in the mess hall if anyone needs me." She lowered her salute and tipped her head at the commander before hurrying out.

They both watched her leave, the Captain snagging a chair and dragging it along side her bed. "Sounds like the beacon hit you pretty hard Shepard. The doctor informed me of your injuries earlier. But otherwise you're feeling okay?" He asked clearly concerned for his young friend. "I'll live Captain." She smiled a bit of humour seeping into her voice " At least that what the Doc says. But you know her she's a shifty one." They both laughed at this, both knowing how untrue this was. She sobered up quickly though "A little frustrated otherwise. Intel didn't warn us about the Geth and the Beacon had been moved without anyone outside knowing about it until we got there. That's why things went so wrong sir." The Captain knew how she felt, he had been a field operative at one time too. "In fairness the Geth haven't been seen outside the veil in over two hundred years. How were the intel pukes… or anyone else" he conceded "supposed to have predicted that?"

She paused thinking this over and accepting it. Saying it all out loud still helped assuage the frustration though. "I'll admit i'm surprised to see William's here. She isn't Normandy crew I thought she would have been directed back to her post?" She asked. "I figured we… That is to say you could use a Soldier like her on the team Commander. I reassigned her." This made Shepard happy she'd seen Ashley in action. **_And she's one tough cookie. Knows her way around rifle too._** "Williams is definitely a good Soldier sir. She deserves it."

"Lieutenant Alenko concurs with your assessment. That made it easy for me to decide having her join us was a good idea. But this is all beside the point thats not what i really needed to talk to you about." Shepard shifted to make her wounds more comfortable. "What do you want to talk about sir?"

Anderson looked frustrated. "I won't lie to you, Shepard. Things look bad. A council Spectre Nihlus is in serious condition. The beacon was destroyed and Geth are invading. The Council's going to want answers. Answers we quite frankly don't have." **_Politics. Great….._**

"We didn't do anything wrong sir. Hopefully the council will see that. Eden Prime would have been probably have been lost without our intervention." She defended.

"I'll stand behind you and your report, Shepard. You know I will" He sighed "You're a damned hero in my books. But that's also not why I'm here. It's Saren. That other Turian. Saren's a Spectre, one of the best. A living legend. But if he's working with the geth, it means he's gone rogue. A rogue Spectre's trouble. Saren's dangerous. And he hates humans."

"That's putting it mildly." rasped a voice behind her. Apparently Nihlus had chosen this moment to wake up. "Good to see you up Spectre. Do you have anything else to add to my assessment" taking his return to consciousness in stride. "He thinks you're growing too fast, taking over the galaxy. Its more personal than even that for Saren something happened during the first contact war, He lost his brother or some such in a bombing by humans on Palaven. He now blames humanity for most of the galaxies woes. Paranoid, but a lot of aliens think that way. Most of them don't do anything about it." He paused to catch his breath. "Well save the Batarians. But Saren has allied himself with the Geth. I don't know how he has, but he has. I only know it had something to do with that beacon."

"He didn't go to Eden Prime just because he hates human surely?" Asked Shepard. "You were there just before that beacon self-destructed. Did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?" asked Anderson, Desperate for a lead that could help them sell this mess to the Council.

"Just before the blast I experienced some sort of vision." Anderson remained still, but withheld judgement "What kind of vision?" She struggled to explain it again. Her previous attempts had been insufficient in her mind. "A Warning I think. Synthetics. Geth… Maybe, but unlikely." **_This being a protean beacon after all._** "Slaughtering organics, butchering them."

"Oh, thats going to go over well. This really doesn't add to our credibility." Sighed Nihlus Behind her." As much as she wished she didn't have to in this case, she agreed with Nihlus "What are we going to tell the Council Captain? I can't submit a bad dream to them as evidence."

Anderson was more optimistic "We don't know what information was stored in that beacon. Lost Prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it." He paused. "But I know Saren. I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy, a plague in need of cleansing. This attack was an act of war! He has the secrets from the beacon. He has an army of Geth at his command. And he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy!"

"Assuming thats what his goal is. Of Course I'll be there to stop him Captain." She soothed him. "If only it were that simple. He's a Spectre, like me." Inserted Nihlus "He can go anywhere do almost anything with the council at his back." He huffed a breath of frustrated air. "Even with my testimony our position is tenuous. I was wounded or unconscious most of the mission and did not personally witness most of the evidence."

"But if we can prove he's gone rogue the council will revoke his Status. Allowing us to hunt him." Anderson nodded his agreement. "I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. We should be getting close now. Closing on the citadel relay. Head up to the bridge if you're feeling up to stretching yourself out a bit and tell Joker to bring us into dock as soon as we arrive."

**_Boy, that sounds really good right about now. _**"Aye, Aye sir. I'll just tend to a couple things quickly then head straight up." She shifted gingerly off the table and started towards the door. She shuffled somewhat do to the splint brace that had been secured around her busted leg. As the door opened she saw that both people she had been looking to see were currently in the mess hall.

Ashley was closest leaning against the wall a couple meters away. She saw Shepard's approach and offered a small smile. "I meant to mention in there Shepard, I'm glad you're alright. The crew could use some good news after that whole mess ground side."

Shepard nodded. Nobody was going to forget Eden Prime anytime soon. "In someways I feel a little bit guilty." Admitted Ashley "If all this hadn't happened I wouldn't be here. Serving under a couple of war heroes."

" I saw you work Williams. You're a good Soldier, You certainly belong somewhere like the Normandy." Ashley smiled again sincerity etching her features. "Thanks Commander. Its good to hear you say that."

Shepard looked her over a few bruises visible here and there but she appeared unharmed overall. "How you holding up Williams? Things were pretty rough down there. You doing okay?" Ashley seemed surprised to be asked. "I've seen friends die before. Comes with being a marine. But to see my whole unit wiped out… right in front of me like that? And you never get used to seeing dead civilians. But things would have been a lot worse if you hadn't shown up ma'am. A nuclear crater worse."

"Couldn't have managed it without your help Ashley." Ashley bobbed her head happily enough "Thanks, Commander." She paused "I have to admit, I was a little worried about being assigned to the Normandy. A top of the line ship. Elite crew? It's nice when someone makes you feel welcome."

"Don't worry Williams. I think you'll fit in just fine here." She patted the taller woman on the shoulder. "I better go check on Alenko though. See you around." She shuffled over to the second person she had been looking for, seated over in the corner by himself. "Hey Kaidan." She greeted him pulling out a chair for herself. He looked up from the book he was reading. "Hey Commander. Glad to see you're alright." She looked him over. Some shadows under his eyes. "You okay Lieutenant, No injuries I didn't hear about?" She Asked. He looked confused for a moment but recovered quickly. "Oh! no sorry Commander. My amps just been acting up since the mission. A few headaches that sort of thing. Nothing really takes the edge off 'em so I have to just grit it out."

Alenko, like all biotics required an "Amp", a medical implant, in order to more finely control his abilities. Biotic abilities were always unstable at best. He, like hundreds if not thousands of others, had been exposed to Element zero or "Eezo" either while still in the womb or at a very early age. It had twisted his DNA indirectly allowing him to manipulate dark energy. Sometimes as a tool, others as a weapon. Any way about it, he had been among the earliest Humans to receive an implant for control purpose and the fledgling tech was largely flawed. Hence the headaches. Still way she heard he like many others figured the ability to throw things with his mind not too bad a trade off.

"Well make sure you let me or Doctor know if it becomes something to worry about Okay?" He nodded agreement. "Now then what's for Dinner? Breakfast?" She hadn't had the chance to check the time. He told her. **_Chef's off duty. Nutrient paste until 0600. Crap…._**

She decided she'd rather wait a little to get some chow. "Well the Captain wanted me to Check in with Joker when I got the Chance. I'll speak with you again later."

She eased up out of the chair and began stumping toward the stairs. **_Oh this is gonna be fun._** She managed her way up them slowly. Coming out of the stairwell at the back of the command deck's chart room. She made her way up to the cockpit and thumbed open the door. She wrapped he hand on the bulkhead so she didn't startle the pilot too bad. "Hey Joker Captain wanted me to tell you to take us into dock A. . once were through the relay." She heard steps behind her and turned to see that Ashley and Kaidan had made there way to bridge after her. The pilot looked over his shoulder at them all. "Ah. You all are just in time. I'm Just about to bring us into the Citadel. See that taxpayer money at work?" he indicated they should grab a spot to look out the view screens. Shepard eased down into the port copilots chair while Ashley and Kaidan crowded around the other window. The area outside the ship swirled with stellar gases. Glowing pink, and red. She had seen this nebula often enough over the years to recognize it. **_We're already in the Widow nebula. The ship must have made better time than the Captain thought._** A cloud bank shifted and the Citadel came into view. Shepard smiled and she heard a pleased gasp from Williams. Who it turned out hadn't seen the station before. The Station was as beautiful as it was massive, a 12.8 km ring with five great arms each around 44 Klicks long themselves, curved like petals of a flower. Today arms had been pulled in somewhat making the resemblance more pronounced. The Citadel growing larger in the screens, a cloud bank relatively nearby erupted and another ship sailed slowly out of it. "Look at the size of that ship!" barked Ashley excitedly. Shepard recognized the ship as one being somewhat unique in the annals of naval history. Kaidan was the one who spoke up though. "The Destiny Ascension. Flagship of the Citadel Fleet." The Ascension was massive, large even by the standards of Dreadnoughts thought not quite in the same way the beast they saw on Eden Prime was. It resembled a large curved white cross with a glowing ovoid hole at its heart.

Joker had made some sort of sarcastic remark while Shepard had been reflecting on this. "Why so touchy Joker?" kidded Ashley. "Just saying you need firepower too." he shot back. Ashley laughed at that logic. "Look at the size of that thing. It's main gun could tear through the barriers of any ship in the Alliance." Kaidan watched the two banter with a small smile touching his lips. "Good thing its on our side then eh?"

A light began blinking rapidly on Jokers controls. He tapped it. "Citadel Control this is the SSV Normandy requesting to dock?" "Stand by for clearance Normandy." there was couple moments pause as the Citadel checked there signature and silhouette against there records and whether they had valid credentials. "Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."

"Normandy this is Alliance Tower. Please proceed to Dock Four-Two-Two. Watch your approach speed SSV Leyte Gulf is docked in the adjoining space. Don't give her any thruster wash please." The Leyte Gulf was an Iwo Jima Class Frigate and thus one of the backbone of the Alliance Light Fleet. Not a stealth ship the Iwo's had greater firepower than a Normandy class. Also they were about thirty meters longer than the Normandy Class and with around just under ten meters more height. The mention of Leyte Gulf had caused Shepard's mood picked up further. **_Might see another friendly face today. That's John' s Ship._**

A couple of hours later once they had been cleared to disembark Anderson had come round and gathered the ground teams senior officers. This included Shepard, Williams, Alenko, and the Spectre Nihlus Kyrik. They had been shuttled by military transport to the Alliance Embassy on the presidium. The Presidium constituted the beating heart of galactic civilization. The central ring structure of the station it house all the species embassies, the best cultural displays, museums, apartments, and night life, a long lake running the entire bottom of the rings floor. The Citadel Tower were the Council itself resided was less than a block from the embassies. They were marched up past the secretaries and embassy guards to the door of the Ambassadors office. Shouting could be heard even through the reinforced door. **_well that sounds promising._**

As they entered the room Shepard could spot the source of the shouting. It was a currently very red faced balding man. The Ambassador himself. "This is an Outrage" He roared "The Council would step in if the Geth attacked a Turian Colony!" A slim form stepped forward in the holographic feed he was facing. The Salarian Councilor. The amphibian opened her mouth "The Turians don't found colonies on the boarders of the Terminus systems, Ambassador." Distain dripped in her tone. Another figure stepped forward as the Salarian Retreated. The Asari Councilor this time. "Humanity was well aware of the risks when if decided to start settling the traverse." Ambassador Udina tried a different approach. "And what about Saren. The Council can't just ignore a rogue Spectre. I demand Action!"**_ Thats right piss them off even more Ambassador. That'll work well._** Shepard could already see where this was going.

The Turian councillor was incensed "Humanity doesn't get to make demands of the council Ambassador." The Asari Councilor laid a delicate eland on the Turian's arm. She turned to the Ambassador her hand hovering over a control. "Citadel security is investigating your charges against Saren. The Council will discuss the results of the investigation During the hearing not before." Her hand slapped down and the feed cut out.

The Ambassador swore prolifically and turned to meet his guests. " Captain Anderson." His voice was bitter clearly still sore from being cut off. "I see you brought half your crew with you." Despite his antagonistic tone Anderson remained calm. "Just the ground team from Eden Prime. In case there were any questions." Udina waved his courtesy away. "I read the reports. I assume they're accurate?" he had the gall to look doubtful.

"They are." Stated Anderson, unruffled as yet. "Sounds like you convinced the council to give us an Audience?" "They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason. Especially by a what was it the Salarian councillor called me recently…." He paused pretending to think about it. "A hairy ape!" His face reddened again at the insult. Shepard tried to interject here. "Saren's a threat to every human colony out there sir." She tried to sound reasonable. "He needs to be stopped. The Council has to listen to us!" her opinion clearly didn't manage to improve his opinion of her and and her crew. "Settle down commander. You've already done enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres." He positively sneered at her. "The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up wounded and the beacon was destroyed, along with half the colony."

For the first time Anderson became agitated "That's Saren's fault not hers!" he declared, glaring at the Ambassador. "Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations." His tone suggested that he doubted this would be the case for a number of reasons. "Otherwise the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres." He turned to the captain monitoring that the discussion was over. "Come with me, Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing." he turned back to her briefly. "Shepard, you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower. I'm sure even you can find that. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in so you don't get shot on sight." He clomped out of the room a thundercloud following. Anderson gave Jenn an apologetic glance and followed a moment later.

"And that, is why I hate politicians", Nihlus his Flanged Turian voice grumbling. "Amen to that." muttered Ashley.

"Ok Nihlus. I assume you know the way to the tower?" He nodded in agreement. Perhaps you can lead us there."

Ashley had never been to the Citadel before, the closest thing she'd ever had been to had been Arcturus Station or Gagarin station which was also known as Jump Zero. It was worlds apart from how Jump zero had been. Bigger and far more beautiful. Also far more full of Aliens. Everywhere she looked, Asari, Turians, Salarians, Volus, Hanar and Elcor. She could have sworn she'd also seen a Quarian earlier and maybe even a Drell. The only ones she'd missed thus far had been a Krogan, a Batarian (uncommon on the Citadel these days) or a Vorcha. She wasn't entirely sure she liked that part. She told herself she wasn't precisely against aliens as a rule. Its just that they and humanity had had a rough history together. **_Speaking of Hanar._** The Commander had ordered there little flotilla to halt as she wandered over to where a C-Sec agent was arguing loudly with a giant pink Jellyfish. The Hanar were pretty wild looking. The Commander had spoken to the agent gently touching his arm. He had been startled by the contact that humans shared more often than aliens but didn't comment. After a few word she turned to the obstinate Jelly which quivered and phosphoresced occasionally as it spoke to her. Some thing about "This ones religious freedoms" being infringed. Shepard nodded gently to it and returned to the C-sec officer. **_This might take a while. Might as well enjoy the show though._** She glanced out of the corner of her eye Nihlus has opted to examine a small insectoid caretaker species wandering back and forth along the promenade. But Kaidan had apparently decided to enjoy the show like her. Although judging from his expression for entirely different reasons. **_Ah so its like that is it lieutenant? _**"She's quite something isn't she L.T?" he just nodded "She know you've got the hots for her?" This time her words cut through the daze. He choked **_possibly on his own drool._** and turned bright red. " Thats not really your business Gunnery Chief." he replied stiffly trying to recover some dignity. She had to concede he was right on that account. "Fair enough Lieutenant. But I reserve the right to tease you about it regardless. At least when the commander isn't to close by." She grinned at him. After a moment he shook his head with a wry smile. But he didn't get the chance to cast a rejoiner as the Hanar had moved off following the officer off the thoroughfare.

"What was that about Commander?" Nihlus had apparently snuck back up while they'd been bantering. "Nothing too serious, just a difference of opinion on the need for an evangelical license." She smiled pleasantly at him "Why you following around the bug?" She had apparently spotted his odd detour. "got a contract to scan some of the keepers." he didn't explain further.

"Alright kids. lets head to the council they should be ready relatively soon. She spun on her good leg and they restarted their march. Ashley wasn't into women but even she could admit the commander looked striking in her dress blues. She could see what had grabbed the lieutenants attention. They all piled into the elevator giving access to the tower. The elevators floor indicator had been replaced with a distance to destination reader. it read as 3.5 kms. As the elevator doors closed a news report began blaring over the intercom. "Because of the attack on Eden Prime, Alliance colonial backers have pulled support for future colonies. While officials insist that Eden Prime was an isolated case, colonial investors have pulled support until they are convinced Alliance Colonies will be protected. As a result, colonist enrolment has fallen sharply."

"Rats abandoning a ship" muttered Shepard darkly "Was the same after Mindior" Thrown by the non-sequiter Alenko spoke up "Ma'am?" he asked confusedly. Shepard glanced over at him apparently surprised to see him there. She appeared to think about whether or not she wanted to answer him.

She sighed "I was there Lieutenant. Lost most of my family when the Batarians attacked. those that were left weren't related closely enough for me to be sent to them. I just remembered hearing similar reports while i waited to get assigned to a foster home or adopter thats all." Nobody, not even Nihlus appeared to know what to say to that. Shepard looked thoughtful. "When the Batarians came my parents told me to hide in the crawl space under the house. I heard them get taken by the Batarians. I learned later they died during the town square massacre." The Batarians had killed anyone too old to be of use. "Had a sister too don't know what happened to her she was out with her boyfriend when the attack hit." She looked understandably sad thinking about this.

"I was till under the crawl space when the Alliance reinforcements arrived. Had a knife dad had given me just in case. A pair of Batarians had found me and were draggin' me out. I managed to kill one of them stabbed him right in the neck… Thought the other was going to kill me. I remember he had this big spiked gauntlets the slavers favoured at the time. Then his head exploded." She smiled wanly at this part. "First time I met Anderson. I hate to think what would have happened had he not been there. Had I not had my Knife." The elevator dinged and booted them out onto council chamber floor. "We need to make sure nothing like Eden Prime or Mindior happens again." She stated soberly. Ashley spoke up. "You think the council will listen?" Shepard just shrugged."We'll find out soon" Ashley replied. **_And I'll definitely have to do an extranet search on Shepard. See who it is i'm serving with in a little more detail._** he Council Chambers was made up of three tiers. The first tier where they stood now was small and housed a fountain. The second tier the largest in front and above them held a garden. Japanese style. The Aliens had developed a bit of a fetish for Human culture since there arrival a little over thirty year previous. The final their held the council room itself. As they approached the stair to the second tier they ran into a pair of Turians Arguing. The first a young grey skinned C-Sec Officer with blue face paint was arguing passionately with a more senior brown skinned member in civilian clothes. "Saren's Hidings something! Give me more time." He pleaded "Stall them!"

"Stall the council?" The older Turian just shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. The investigation is over Garrus." The older one turned and left. The younger one "Garrus" shook his head in a rapid frustrated bob. Chattering something the translator couldn't catch. He apparently caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye and stopped staring at the Commander. He sauntered slightly as he came over. "Commander Shepard?" He asked. The Commander merely nodded. **_I have to admit, for a bird he's got a nice voice._** Williams thought. "Garrus Vakarian. He stuck out his hand a greeting most Turians weren't comfortable with. "I WAS the C-Sec officer in charge of the investigation into Saren" The past tense firmly identified.

Shepard looked at him carefully taking in who knows what. "Sounded like you really want to take him down." She prodded. He bobbed his head again and looked off to the side. "I don't trust him. Not even a little. Something About him has always rubbed me the wrong way." he admitted freely. "But he's a Spectre, everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence like this." He sounded genuinely frustrated. Shepard was about to reply when a council aid sidled up after coming down the stairs. "The council is ready for you Commander." He said pleasantly. Garrus wished them luck. "Good luck Shepard. Perhaps the Council will listen to you? **_How likely is that? _**Ashley wondered.

Shepard Led the way up through the garden to where Anderson was waiting at the final set of stairs. "The hearing has already started. Come on." He gestured for Shepard to follow and there march up the stairs. The Council chamber was designed to draw attention to the councillors themselves. A tall glass window allowing the light from the Widow Nebula to backlight them. Unfortunately a less pleasant sight also greeted them upon taking the top of the stairs. A large Hologram of Saren spoke from a pedestal beside the councillors position. He stood haughty and staring with arrogant satisfaction at the Humans. And the Asari councillor was in the middle of a speech as they stepped up to the stand.

"The Geth attack on Eden Prime is a matter of some concern" she opened. "But there is nothing to indicate that Saren was involved in anyway." The Turian Councilor spoke here "The investigation by Citadel Security Turned up no evidence supporting your claims of treason." Udina Stepped forward "But what about the colonist who witnessed him attack Nihlus without provocation?" The Salarian Councilor took it upon herself to reply "We've read the Eden Prime reports Ambassador. The Testimoney of one Traumatized dock worker and need i remind you criminal dock worker are hardly compelling evidence." She said Dismissively.

It was then the Enemy spoke for himself " I resent these accusations. Nihlus is a fellow Spectre and a friend." Nihlus seemed to take exception to this and strode up to take the accusers stand. "Then why is it Saren that I remember turning around to set you guy pointed towards me. Why is it i remember nearly dying from multiple gunshots?"

Saren turned to look down on Nihlus. His face morphing it what was supposed to a look of kindliness, But to Jenn it merely appeared predatory. "Because that was what you were meant to see Nihlus. The Humans, Captain Anderson in particular who i see standing behind you have a vendetta against me. They orchestrated the events you experienced so that it would appear obvious i was a villain. What actually happened was that I had heard the whine of their drone. Which was following us. I assumed naturally, if wrongly that it must be a Geth Drone and pulled my weapon. I was attempting to turn in such a way as I could catch it buy surprise. However Captain Anderson's protege happened to be in control of the machine and drew attention at a time in which my weapon ended up pointed in your direction. Understandably your assumed I was attacking you and sought cover. However the drone had lined up a firing solution on me and managed to shoot. I believe this is when you were injured my friend. As next I looked you were down. I managed to avenge the drone destroying it. But Before it could move to help you, suddenly Alliance Marines where coming around the container and opening fire on me. It was only through the questionable fortune of a Geth assault on your team that I escaped. It has alway been you and your Proteges involved whenever the Alliance attempts to move against me."

"But you can't deny you where there? No of course no. I was there for what I believed would be an above board if not cordial spectre evaluation. It was unfortunate for all of us that the Geth assault through off the mission and made it appear that i had a relationship with them."

"I read the Eden prime reports Shepard you in your incompetence allowed the beacon destroyed. But what can you expect from a human?" This last part was sneered.

"Saren Despises Humanity, we suspect that why he attacked Eden Prime." Shepard Turn the step forward and challenge him. "Your species needs to learn its place Shepard. Your not ready to join the council races, You are not even ready to join the Spectres."

Udina Stepped forward agin filled with pompous rage. "He has no right to say that, Thats not his Decision."

The Asari Councillor didn't like the tone the meeting was taking. "Shepard's Admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting." She chided Saren. " This meeting has no purpose. The Humans are wasting your time Councillor and Mine."

"You can't hide behind the council forever Saren. Care to explain the Turian Explosive all over the colonial space port." Remembering the nuke she had to disarm.

"Please Shepard Turian made explosives are shipped via many black markets. They could have literally got them anywhere. Perhaps that smuggler you paid off to give testimony against me, would know how they got there?"

Anderson stepped for giving shepard a glance warning her to to allow him to handle it. "There is one other outstanding issue. Commander Shepards Vision. Which may have been triggered by the beacon." Trying to steer them another direction of attack. "Are we allowing dream into evidence now. How am I supposed to defend myself against those who would use this kind of testimony?" Rebuked Saren. The Turian Councilor Stepped forward. "I Agree this hearing needs to be based of hard evidence and not wild imagining and reckless speculation."

"Do you have anything else to add Commander?" This was the Salarian Councilor who looked exceedingly bored. Her attitude just frustrated Jenn even more "You've made your Decision. Long before this hearing even began. Before the evidence was presented. I won't waste my breath on those who do not wish to hear."

The Councillors turned to convene privately. When they turned back the Asari Councilor stepped forward "The Council has found no evidence connecting Saren and the Geth. Ambassador your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres in denied. And as too you Spectre Kyrik? You'r being reassigned immediately and are to report to Huerta memorial Hospital for medical care prior to deployment." He tone brooked no argument from the other Turian Spectre.

The human delegation all slumped in disappointment. Seeing this Saren could not help put send a parting quip. "Im Glad to see Justice was served." The Asari Councilor spoke her last "This meeting of the Council is Adjourned."


	5. Chapter 5: Citadel Part II

Chapter 5:

"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing Captain!" Udina declared without preamble. "You and Saren have too much history. It made the council question our motives. They think we're in this just to take down an anti-human, not to reveal a traitor in their midst." Anderson turned to Shepard pleading in his voice for understanding, "I know Saren, he's working with the Geth for one reason, to exterminate the entire Human race!" he declared with certainty. "Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe!"

Jenn put up her hands in a calming gesture hoping to calm both men. "I believe you sir but what's this history between you and Saren?" Andersons face went contemplative considering how best to explain what he was remembering. Eventually he seemed to come to a conclusion and began wringing his hand slightly as he spoke " I worked a mission with him years ago. Things went bad fast. Real bad." He paused his recollection and shook his head. "Really Shepard it's best we not talk about this here." She sighed **_usually the Captain isn't such a tightwad with critical information. _**"All right fine what's our next step" she asked rubbing her forehead. Udina Came in here again "As a Spectre he's virtually untouchable." **_You don't say. We figured that out before we even came to the station…._** "We need to find some way to expose him." Udina appeared to consider this.

"What about Garrus? That C-sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the executor." This came from Alenko. Ashley who was standing next to him got excited at the possibility of a lead. "That's right he was asking for more time. Seemed to think he was close to finding something on Saren. Any Idea where we could find him?" She asked.

"I have a contact in C-sec that can help us track, this…. Garrus down. His name is Harkin." Udina divulged grudgingly. Anderson broke in with a sarcastic snort. "Forget it. They suspended Harkin last month. Drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser." He declared stubbornly. Udina had crossed his arms in defiance over his chest at the casual dismissal of the idea. But a nasty little gleam had crept into his eye. "You won't have too." He said with obvious relish. "I won't have the Council using your past history with Saren to ignore anything we turn up. Shepard will handle this. You can just sit this one out Captain." Causing most of the jaws around him to drop Shepard's included. "You can't just cut Captain Anderson out of this investigation" she yelped indignantly, but it was not Udina who stopped her this time. It was the Captain. A grim expression on his face and a dark look in Udina's direction. "No as much as I hate to admit it Udina is right. I need to step aside. For the good of the mission."

At first, surprised by the surrender Udina nonetheless look extremely pleased with himself. "I need to take care of some business. Captain meet me in my office later. I have some tasks for you." At this he spun on his heel leaving the group in a clear attitude of dismissal.

"Harkin's probably getting drunk in Chora's Den. Its a dingy little club in the lower section of Zakera ward." Anderson supplied getting them back on track. "You didn't seem too keen on him. Any other people contacts we could hit up?" Jenn asked her mentor.

Anderson considered for a moment "I'm not sure I like this idea any more than dealing with Harkin. But you could try hitting up Barla Von in the Presidium markets. He's a Volus known to be openly in the service of the Shadow Broker."

"Ok. That names sounds ominous. Who is that?" Shepard wondered aloud. "An Information dealer. Buys and sells secrets to the highest bidder. As one of his top representatives he might know something about Saren. But the information won't come cheap."

**_Lets see a broke loser directing us to a person we know is hunting Saren. ooooorrrr… an intergalactic-scale crime lord's lackey? _**"I don't know about you but Im not in a hurry to bring another major criminal interest into this, not unless we're really desperate. I'd rather run down this Garrus lead through the loser patrol." They all had a chuckle at this. "All right it's your call Shepard."

**_All right one last shot on that bit he was holding back earlier. _**"But seriously Captain Anderson we need you tell us about your history with Saren."

Anderson sighed surrender. "Fine. About Twenty years ago I was part of a mission in the Skyllian Verge. I was working with Saren to find and remove a known terrorist threat. Saren got his target all right, but a lot of innocent people lost their lives along they way, and the officials just covered it up. But I saw how he operates." He made eye contact with Shepard, willing her to understand, "He has no conscience, no sense of remorse, and would gladly kill thousands of innocents to end a war."

"Killing innocents doesn't end wars! It causes them." protested Shepard.

"We both know how the world works commander, don't worry. We know what it's like to make the hard decisions, to be forced to do things we wish we didn't have to. But such things are the last resort. Saren, he doesn't bother looking for another way. He's broken, twisted, and violent. He likes the killing….," he paused, "And he knows how to cover his tracks."

She had the answer that she needed, but she asked one more quick question, "Why does Udina not seem to get along with the council."

Anderson had already turned to go but he answered anyway, "He's frustrated. They pressure us into expanding into the terminus borders, or throughout the Traverse. And then when things go wrong, which they inevitably do, they refuse to do anything about it. Regardless, we need be on the council to protect our interests and get a say into what galaxy affecting decisions are made."

"I understand Sir. I'd better get to work," he turned and headed away by himself.

"How about you two? You guys up for a little investigation? It could take a while." she asked, warning Ashley and Alenko. Nihlus had wandered off to the hospital immediately after the meeting, and so had missed the whole discussion with Anderson and Udina.

"Right behind you ma'am, whatever you need," assured Alenko. Williams nodded her head in agreement.

"All right lets get a move on…," Jenn stopped catching sight of someone out of the corner of her eye. She hurried over gesturing her squad to follow. "Well, if it isn't the king of the streets," she hollered at a pair of alliance officers. The marine in armour jumped slightly and turned at the call,a big grin splitting his face. The other officer just looked confused, as they marched over towards the pair. The Navy officer, a rear admiral from the looks of it, excused himself with a small smile and a brief salute. Jenn ran up to the marine and hugged him tightly giving him a firm shake after. "This here is Lieutenant Commander John Shepard," she announced to her squad smiling broadly, "How are you doing little brother!"

Alenko and Ashley looked on in astonishment at the pair roughhousing in the middle of the council tower. The brother throwing a mock punch which his sister blocked, was laughing too.

"I'm good Jenn, you know me, causing and getting into trouble. The Leyte Gulf is in for a quick refit and resupply so I've been finding stuff to do in my free time. I just got a new mission for the Captain to review though."

Jenn kept smiling, "Oh yeah, anything I'll be hearing about?"

He thought on it a bit, "You get that State of the Alliance Sitrep two months ago?" She nodded she had. "We've lost two more squads that way, and one of them belonged to that Rear Admiral you just saw. We didn't know for sure who was behind it until I helped a doctor being coerced into misappropriating med gear."

"That's my brother all right, rescuing all the pretty ladies," she joked, "So who is it? Anyone I've heard of?"

His expression darkened a bit, "Possibly, you got that brief on a group called Cerberus?"

Jenn grimaced a little too, "Yeah but that was pretty sketchy. You saying they're the ones pickin' at our edges?"

"Uh, excuse me a moment you two. One moment you're playing like a pair of drunk pups, the next you're going all cloak and dagger. What's going on, who's Cerberus?" asked Ashley, drawing John's attention easily.

Jenn swatted at him playfully and answered, " Anyway, to answer your question Chief, they're a terrorist group that's been making noise for the last few months. They're a pro-human organization thought to be dating back to the First Contact War. It's weird though, usually they avoid humans as their targets. Why are they showing their teeth now?"

She shook that question off. "Well good luck, I hope you find them and tear them up. But come on, what else has been going on?" she begged him for details to his life.

He thought for a moment, "All I can think of is that I ran into Lieutenant Zabaleta recently. You remember him, he was assigned as the bridge guard on the Einstein. You and he always got along because you'd both been at Mindior?" he prodded her memory, "albeit in a different way because he was the rescuer, you were among the victims."

"I remember him now. How's he doing now? I know he struggled with his memories of Mindior," she stated with sympathy in her voice.

John shook his head, "Got drummed out at some point. Pretty much homeless now. Unshaved, hasn't bathed in a week," he looked sad. "You should go see him. He has been hanging around Zakera ward, begging for money. I tried talking sense to him but he didn't appear convinced. He liked you more though, maybe he'll listen to you if you visit with him."

Jenn nodded soberly, "If I see him, I'll talk to him."

John bobbed his head happily. He looked at his omni-tool, "I'm really sorry Jenn but I've gotta move on now. If I see you around again before you ship out, we can talk more," he promised starting to shuffle away.

Jenn nodded a little happier again, "Sounds good, take care of yourself." He waved as he took off at a jog.

"Ashley quit staring at my brothers butt. It creeps me out."

"Sorry Ma'am"

Ten minutes later they were down in the lower end of Zakera Ward. They had indeed run into the former Alliance Marine Zabeleta in the access corridors between the presidium and the wards. Jenn was sad to see he had been in as bad shape as John had implied. He had recognized her of course.

He was so far down though that he'd been forced to try and hit her up for some money. She had indeed given him a little of her own money for a meal, but made sure she spent the next quarter of an hour talking the man into visiting veterans affairs for some PTSD therapy and veterans aid. He hadn't like the idea to say the least.

"The V.A? All they do is juice you up on meds until you can't feel anything!" he'd declared stubbornly. But eventually he had come around when she asked him do it as a favour to her. He'd always had a soft spot for her ever since she'd been adopted by her new mother and had been introduced to him as a survivor of Mindior.

Now about half an hour later they were down in the wards proper asking a particularly stubborn Virtual Intelligence for the location of Chora's Den where the loser was supposed to be hanging out.

"I'm sorry, the Citadel Tourism and Visitors board has no records of the location known as Chora's Den in its recommended restaurants or clubs archive. Shall I provide a list of facilities which are listed?" the Holographic Asari spoke in a monotoned computerized voice.

"No! I do not need a list of recommended facilities. I don't care whether or not the indicated location is recommended," Jenn wanted badly to start shooting the holo-projector. They'd been trying to get this across to the VI for close to five minutes now, "I just want to know where a facility known as Chora's Den is located?"

"The facility you indicated is located one block down to your left and three floors down. Is there any other information I can provide you with today?" the machine intoned, finally surrendering the location and holo-map indicating the route.

Jenn heaved a sigh of relief. **_Glory, Hallelujah, Praise the almighty enkindlers. _**"No thank you," she stated.

"Warning! The location you have requested is flagged by Citadel security for violations including but not limited to extortion, fraud, illegal gambling, prostitution, and cruelty to plants. Your User ID has now been flagged," the computer reported.

**_Wonderful. Now C-sec's gonna be on my butt. _**Jenn had bent down and pried open the VI's control panel.

"Uh ma'am, what are you doing?" asked Kaidan looking worried.

**_Well if I'm in trouble anyway…. _**"Please do not tamper with public property." the VI said not even a modicum of emotion in its voice. **_1…2…3, now access the extranet… pick something absurd and…. Bingo. _**The VI interface flickered and the petite Asari was replaced by a slightly tubby asian man doing a bowlegged dance waving an imaginary lasso in the air. The speakers kicked in and a diddy that had something to do with "Hey Sexy Lady" started playing loudly.

Ashley's face had gone beet red and she was nearly choking on laughter. "Go big or go home ma'am?" she coughed out past a laugh.

"Glad you approve Chief, lets move before an officer arrives. We have stuff to do today." They hurried off around the corner and down the stairs into a small market area before heading off in the direction the VI had indicated.

They marched through a dingy alley and then a rundown club district, neon signs flashing obnoxiously from every angle. Just as they spotted Chora's Den at the end of the avenue a pair of figures stepped out in front of them. Jenn rested her hand on the grip of her sidearm.

"It's her!" one of the cloaked beings snarled. "The one the boss wants dead!" he reached for a shotgun concealed under his cloak.

Jenn dove to the side as a shotgun blast rang out. She heard a hoarse cry from one of her crew mates and the pop of their pistols filled the street. Vendors and civilians bolted this way and that heading for cover. Jenn popped up from a crate she had taken cover behind and emptied her sidearm at her opponent. **_Damn it, Jenn! Knew I should have worn some proper armour. Stinkin' dress blues! _**she cursed mentally. She popped the expended thermal clip and slapped in another and drilled one of her opponents who had stood up to get a better shot at Ashley. His barriers burst like an electric bubble and blood sprayed from his chest. He went down with a gurgle. The other saw this and attempted to run, but was caught by a biotic field Kaidan had thrown up. He twisted in the air as his feet were swept out from under him. He flailed wildly until a follow up burst from the lieutenant stilled him permanently.

Getting up Jenn looked around for signs of any further hit men hiding in the dark. When none appeared she marched over to the body still dangling in the air. "Turian, no markings. Not even the traditional face paint most wear. Saren's men you figure?" she asked the other two as they sauntered up.

"Don't know ma'am. You pissed off anyone else this bad?" joked Kaidan quietly.

She had to think about that. **_Sad statement, right there. _**"Not recently. I suppose they could have been hired by the Batarians. But that was a long time ago," she mused aloud. "Well, let'4s hurry along before more trouble shows up, or C-sec decides to police this ward."

The body dropped as Kaidan released the field. Jenn stepped over it and marched toward the club. The bouncer, a surly looking and slightly paunchy Turian looked her up and down as she approached the door.

"Should we expect more of that shit if we let you in?" he growled, indicating the mess behind her. "Not if I can help it," Jenn replied wearily. The Turian just grunted but finally decided to shift out of the way.

Chora's Den was a crap heap. In all the best or worst ways depending on how you looked at it. Stained walls, a metric tonne of booze, and enough Asari dancers to drown in. **_Possibly literally, Seesh._** She looked at the image Anderson had provided of the "esteemed officer Harkin" and started to scan the crowd for him. According to the bio Harkin was a middle aged, overweight, balding caucasian. **_Figures we're having to look for him in a place like this._**

"We come half way across the galaxy and walk into a bar, where there's dozens of men staring at half naked women shaking their asses on a stage," grumbled Ashley loudly, "I can't decide whether that's funny or sad." Jenn just nodded her head in agreement.

After searching through the crowd for a minute she finally found Harkin over in the corner by the back entrance. However she hesitated, not because she feared to spook him or out of reluctance to find her answers but because the back exit door was filled with Krogan. The first Krogan obviously worked for the club, done up in a poorly fitting staff uniform. The second was…. huge…. and old. **_In as much as you can tell about such things with Krogan. _**The Krogan species as a whole was large. Bulkier than any of the other races save the Elcor. This one was even bigger. Tan skinned with red and crimson plating, clad in the armour of a seasoned mercenary. To add to his intimidation factor he had a series of large deep scars over one eye digging deep even into his brow plate. He had a large Claymore class shotgun secured to his back and his teeth flashed as he rumbled at the smaller Krogan.

The smaller one apparently wasn't without spine because she could hear him growl back, "Back off Wrex. Fist told us to take you down if you showed up."

Wrex just chuckled a low thundering sound, "Then what are you waiting for pup? I'm standing right here?" he taunted. "This is Fist's only chance. If he's smart he'll take it."

The staff member shook his head slightly, "He's not coming out Wrex. End of Story." Wrex growled low and started away from the smaller lizard, "This story is just beginning."

His feet shook the floor noticeably beneath Shepard's feet despite the thumping music. He moved closer and she found herself in his path. **_Not where I want to be. _**The Krogan only spared her a brief glance, "Out of my way humans, I have no quarrel with you." She promptly stepped out of the three quarter ton beast's path.

"And what was that all about?" wondered Kaidan aloud.

"Who knows, let's just not get caught in the middle." replied Ashley. Jenn, after making sure the coast was clear, approached her target. He was staring at her chest. **_Figures._** He had spotted her eyeing him and had decided to try making a pass at her "Hey there sweetheart." he slurred. "Lookin' for some fun? 'cause I gotta say that soldier getup looks real good on that bod of yours," he was practically slobbering.

As if this wasn't bad enough he followed up with, "Why don't you sit that sweet little ass down beside old Harkin?" He took a swig and held up his grimy glass to her, "Have a drink and let's see where this goes?"

Shepard was nevertheless underwhelmed by his approach. Underwhelmed and more than a little disgusted. "Rather drink acid after chewing razor blades," she replied scornfully.

A little fire sparked in his eyes but was quickly squelched by the river of booze he was imbibing. "You trying to hurt my feelings darling? You gotta do better than that. After twenty years in C-sec I've heard worse," he declared with a shaking head.

**_Down to business before you punch this puke. _** "I'm looking for a C-sec officer. A Turian named Garrus." Harkin just laughed sloshing his drink slightly, "Garrus? You must be one of that Captain Anderson's crew. Poor bastard still trying to bring Saren down, huh?" he paused then stated, "I know where Garrus is. But you gotta tell me something first." **_Uh Oh, here we go._** Jenn rolled her eyes. "Did the Captain let you in on the big secret?" he asked slyly.

"I just need to know where Garrus is. Any secret of Anderson's isn't my business," she declared chopping the air with the palm of her hand. **_Cut through the bull._**

He wasn't impressed and his head lolling back on his shoulders. "But it's all related, don't you see? Captain used to be a Spectre," he declared smugly, "Didn't know that did ya?"

"It was all very hush, hush. The first human ever given the honour and he blew it." he positively cackled this part.

Shepard's fists clenched. **_Calm down Jenn. You don't know how much of this is B.S anyway. He's just trying to rile you. _**

"Screwed up his mission so bad they kicked him out. Of course he blames Saren," he took yet another swig of whatever crap it was he was swilling, "Says the Turian set him up."

"Just…tell me Where Garrus went," she said with frustration.

Harkin seemed to consider that for a bit, trying to figure out how much further he would push it. Apparently his discretion finally got the better of him, "Garrus went sniffing around Doc' Michel. She runs the med clinic down the way on the other end of this level. Hot little babe, maybe Garrus is getting himself a piece?"

**_Pig,_** thought Shepard disgustedly, "I'm outta here. You may wanna roll yourself into a shower. It's starting to scare the children." Harkin just shrugged that off, but saying it made her feel better.

As they left the club Kaidan gave an audible sigh of relief, "Thank goodness we're out of there. That music was making my headache worse," he sighed, rubbing the base of his neck. Jenn pulled them over to a railing overlooking one of the skycap lines.

"So, plan?" Ashley asked as the they stopped again.

"We could go straight to the doctor's of course, but it's lunch hour. Garrus is likely just waiting around until the Doc gets back, maybe we could grab something to eat?" said Alenko hopefully. His stomach gave and audible growl and he looked sheepish.

Shepard laughed lightly, "All right, all right. I don't see any harm in grabbing something to eat before heading over. What's nearby?" She brought up a map on the local V.I. terminal. She avoided using her omni-tool again. Alliance extranet rates being what they are on foreign soil. She settled on Flux, the place Anderson had suggested, where she'd been before, after briefly considering a place called Fish Dog Food Shack.

The others, upon consideration, agreed. After a failed call to Anderson later (he was too busy with some chore for Udina to join them), they started making their way over.

Flux sat approximately halfway to their destination. It was mix between a restaurant, club and a micro-casino, as evidenced by a would-be cheater getting booted out. **_Literally._** They made their way into the club and up to the bar to order. This place was much nicer than Chora's Den. The owner a rotund little Volus called Doran. He signalled to the waitress, "Rita? This is one of the Shepard kids. Give her a free drink and get them settled over by the windows." Shepard raised an eyebrow at Rita. She hadn't warranted any special service the last time she had come here.

Rita took their order first and then guided them over to the indicated table before explaining the new deference, "Your brother came through last week and helped us out with a little family problem we'd been having. My sister got herself in over her head." She didn't expand further on that. "But he managed to dig her out. Much to the detriment of my tips now that she's back at work." She noted ruefully before confirming the orders and hurrying off again.

Shepard's teammates shared an amused look. Ashley explained when Shepard looked at them askance, "What? You and your Brother sure get around. Both of you solving all the Citadel's problems?" and gave her a wry smile.

"What can I say. John and I get bored if we don't have something to do while dockside," Jenn laughed in response.

"Well I'll at least give you this boss, you know how to pick your restaurants; this place has a great view," Ashley smiled indicating the panorama of the citadel and the Nebula outside the window. She and Kaidan shifted themselves closer to the glass so they could get a better look. "Big place," Kaidan said, a little bit of awe tinging his voice. Ashley smirked and gave him a cheeky smile, "That your professional opinion sir?" **_He's not wrong though, look at how far out those arms go, the skyscrapers become pins._** "Not so much a station as a city is it?" Jenn said leaning back in her chair and crossing one of her legs over the other.

"There must be millions here," Kaidan muttered still breathless at the view. "It can't be possible to track everyone coming and going can it?" Ashley conceded the point. "Makes Jump Zero look like a porta-john, and it's the largest deep space station the Alliance has, "grudging respect in her voice.

"Jump Zero is big," Kaidan allowed, "but this is a whole 'nother scale. Look at those ward arms. How much must those weigh? A few hundred million or billion tonnes each? How do they keep all that mass from ripping the station apart?"

"The Council must represent more races than we give them credit for to populate and operate a place like this. No wonder they're careful with newcomers. Can't have newbies coming in and screwing it up for everyone." commented Shepard, watching their reactions to the station with amusement.

"Yeah. They probably just need to keep everything running. Imagine trying to keep so many cultures working together ," Kaidan agreed.

Ashley was apparently a little less optimistic though, "Or maybe they just don't like humans," her arms had come up over her chest and a touch of bitterness coloured her tone.

**_Whoop. Whoop. Prejudice alert. Danger! Will Robinson, Danger!_** Shepard tried to lighten the mood. "Why wouldn't they?" she said with laughter in her voice, "We've tropical oceans, beautiful women, this emotion called love. According to the old vids we have everything they want.

Alenko laughed along with her and even Ashley loosened up a bit. "When you put it that way, there's no reason they wouldn't like you…." he paused as he realized just what he'd said. He scrambled to cover the comment but ended up stuttering. "I-I-I mean us, humans, ma'am," his face had gone bright red.

Ashely was grinning broadly watching Alenko flounder, "You don't get much shore leave do you L.T?"

Jenn had to cut in to try and salvage some of the poor man's dignity. "All right. Laugh it up Chief." She turned to Kaidan, "I appreciate the thought Alenko, but we're on duty here."

"Umm, aye aye ma'am," said Kaidan still looking sheepish.

"Don't worry ma'am, I'll walk drag," came a derisive laugh from Williams.

"Can it Chief," Alenko shot her dirty look.

Thankfully a distraction came by in the form of a familiar ship passing by their window,

"I've gotta admit the _Destiny Ascension_ is beautiful," murmured Ashley.

"I hear that beast's four times the tonnage of an Alliance dreadnought," supplied Kaidan. "It's only about twice the volume but the ship is made up of so many state of the art, high end metals and alloys that it's way heavier than it looks." He dug into his meal when Rita brought it around. He chewed a few bites then continued, "About as much firepower as the rest of the Asari fleet combined. Though that could be rumour. What isn't rumour is that it's captained by one Matriarch Lidanya. It's said she's almost three quarters of a millennium old," he paused again chewing and considering. "Guess you'd need a lot of experience to command a ship like that. It's got a crew of ten thousand," he shook his head in astonishment.

They continued eating in silence as the ship passed out of view again, a giant white ghost in the mist. Ashley had lost interest in what was through the window and was now staring over Shepard's shoulder. Shepard twisted in her seat as the bill came up in front of her. She swiped her omni-tool absent-mindedly looking for what had caught Ashley's attention. The only thing over there was a rather sad looking indian man gazing out the window. She looked back at Ashley who was still staring. "Friend of yours?" asked Jenn.

Ashley gave a minor start but caught on quick. "Not exactly. We knew of each other more than anything," she paused and continued, sadness tinging her voice. "If he's who I think he is, he just lost his wife on Eden Prime."

That hit Shepard like a blow to the stomach. She always hated meeting the relatives of the ones left behind. "What's his name?"

"Samesh Bhatia," Ashley supplied. "His wife Nirali was in the Two-Twelve with me… She always spoke fondly of him."

Shepard stared into Williams' eyes for a moment. "If you want to go talk to him, Kaidan and I can go on ahead," she offered.

"You wouldn't mind?" Ashley asked. Jenn shook her head. "Ok. I'll catch up as quick as I can. At the very least I'll see you back aboard ship."

Shepard and Alenko got up from the table and headed for the door nodding to Doran on the way out. Jenn spotted Ashley putting a gentle hand on the man's shoulder to get his attention. She saw him offer a small smile in response to something she said as they exited the restaurant.

Jenn and Alenko wandered slowly along the ward toward the clinic which Harkin had indicated. It was a small structure hugging the edge of one of the ward's primary support columns, almost in the shadows and out of sight. A blue C-sec cruiser was parked in the skyway lot just beyond the front doors. "Looks like Garrus is here," she commented. "Shouldn't be too hard to find in a little clinic like this."

The door still had a closed sign but Jenn figured if she knocked she might at least get a secretary to carry a message to Garrus if he was within. She had just raised her hand when she heard something crash to the ground inside. She paused and raised an eyebrow at Kaidan. **_Chances of that disturbance being a coincidence? _**He shook his head. **_Not bloody likely._**

and reached for his sidearm for the second time that day. Covering the door he waited for her to slip out her own gun before gently pushing the door open and inching inside.

The clinic's main lobby was a largely wide open space filled with chairs. A familiar Turian hunkered low beneath the edge of the counter, and beyond that a woman in medical scrubs cowered before a team of thugs which were gesturing at her with pistols. "That's smart Doc. Now if C-sec comes sniffing around you stay smart. You hear?" The leader advanced menacingly on her.

Garrus finally spotted them and gestured urgently for them to stay down out of the thugs line of sight. But it was too late. The leader had spotted them out of the corner of his eye. He lunged forward and caught the young woman by the wrist and drug her to him pressing the pistol to her temple. "Who are you?!" he demanded. Shepard sighed, today was definitely not her day. "Let her go, or I'll have to blast your ugly mug," threatened Shepard, looking down her pistols sights at his head. Garrus shifted along the bottom of the counter. He looked askance at Shepard. The thug opened his mouth to retort and she nodded infinitesimally.

The thug never got the chance to utter a comeback. Garrus snapped his pistol up and fired catching the thug through the side of the head. The woman screamed as his body jerked and he let go. She dove to the side to escape the gun shots. The other thugs reared back in surprise and Shepard opened up before they could respond. Two more were caught before they could raise their barriers. One going down from a gut shot the other missing a goodly portion of his neck.

The final thug started to inch towards the door, desperation in his eyes. "You aren't getting past us, surrender," Jenn said to him quietly. His eyes bugged and he swung his shotgun up. "Screw you!" he yelled, but he was too slow. His shotgun blast went low and to the side. The military and police pistols tore up his low grade shields and then his chest.

They waited a moment but there weren't any more thugs hiding in the shadows. Garrus rose up to his full height and smiled as he approached her (or at least he made the Turian equivalent). "Perfect timing Shepard. You gave me a clear shot at that bastard."

"Risky shot. Good thing you know your way around a gun," Shepard commented. "You risked hitting the hostage."

Garrus nodded a little frustration visible. "There wasn't time to plan. I just had to react when the opportunity arose," he admitted. He turned to the doctor who was just now getting to her feet, trying not to look at the body of her former captor. "Doctor Michel, are you all right?"

"Yes…" she sighed, trying to get her breath back. "Thanks to you; all of you," the woman said with an accent Shepard couldn't quiet place.

"I know those men threatened you. But if there's any chance you could tell us who they worked for, perhaps we can protect you," offered Shepard. **_How many goons are running around this station today? _**

"They work for Fist," she said simply. Sheoard had to give her props. Most people would have flinched at the idea of giving up the one bit of protection they had left, after an incident like the one she had just been through. But Doctor Michel merely stood tall, her jaw stiff and her expression firm. "They wanted to shut me up. Keep me from telling someone like yourself or officer Vakarian here about the Quarian."

**_Wait, whats a Quarian got to do with any of this?_** Jenn pivoted and looked at Garrus. "Does this incident have anything do with your investigation into Saren?" she asked.

He nodded, "It might. Doctor Michel could you please tell us what happened."

She nodded and started in again. "A few days ago a Quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it," she explained. "If it helps I could tell she was scared. On the run maybe?" the Doctor offered hopefully. "She asked me about the Shadow Broker of all things."

A sinking feeling settled in Shepard's gut. **_The Shadow Broker again? I was really hoping to avoid him… or her._**

Seeing the startled expressions around her, Doctor Michel continued, "She wanted to trade information in her possession for a safe place to hole up."

"Okay. So where is she now?" asked Shepard.

Doctor Michel looked frustrated, shaking her head ruefully. "I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

Here, Garrus raised his hand to halt her and butted in, "Not anymore. Now the stupid son of a bitch works for Saren. Needless to say the Shadow Broker is not happy about it."

Doctor Michel appeared shocked. "Fist Betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's crazy even for Fist!" she proclaimed. "This Saren must have made him quite the offer," she muttered sounding half impressed.

"That Quarian must have something Saren wants. Something it would be worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get," supplied Garrus sounding excited at the prospect of a lead.

"Anything else you can tell me about the Quarian woman?" Jenn asked the Doctor. "I'm not sure. Like I said, she seemed mostly interested in a place to hide. She didn't…." Here the doctor paused a thought popping into her head. "Wait a minute. Geth! Her information had something to do with the Geth!" she said excitedly.

"She must be able to link Saren to the Geth," Garrus asserted. "There is no way the Council can ignore this." Jenn held up her hand to slow him down a moment. "Time we paid Fist a visit, yeah?"

Garrus nodded willing to hold up a moment, "Yeah. This is ultimately going to be your show Shepard, I can tell. But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do."

This claim surprised Jenn only mildly considering how vehement Garrus had been this whole time. "You're a Turian. Any special reason you'd want to bring him down for some humans?" asked Jenn as they headed towards the door.

"I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation. But I knew. I knew Saren is a traitor to the Council and a disgrace to my people!" No doubt about it, the Turian was pissed and ready to take it out on those responsible.

Jenn considered this for only a moment or two, "Then welcome aboard Garrus. You know we aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a Krogan. A bounty hunter by the name of Wrex." **_Oh what a small universe we live in. _**"I saw him when I stopped by Chora's Den earlier. He was delivering a warning," Jenn supplied.

"A Krogan could come in handy," offered Kaidan who had kept his peace until then.

"Last I heard he'd been hauled in for making threats. He should be at the C-sec Academy," Garrus offered.

"Any chance you could get him brought out here. Not like we or the Quarian are swimming in spare time," Jenn asked.

Doctor Michel had waved goodbye and had returned to her little clinic. "Sure, anything else you gonna need?" Garrus replied.

"Guns." Shepard said, "Guns and armour if they have some to spare. Something tells me were going to need it."


	6. Chapter 6: Citadel Part III

Authors Notes: Still running without a regular proof reader. If anyones willing to help me out with that send me a PM. Otherwise view and comment. I hope you all enjoy

**Chapter 6:**

Garrus was as good as his word, he got both sets of "items" Shepard had requested. The first of course being a mammoth Krogan by the name of Wrex, who peered out from under his brow plate suspiciously at the little group. The second being a couple of suits of body-armour and a set of weapons for the dress uniformed and under equipped humans. C-Sec had naturally been dubious about loaning armour and weapons to a group of outsiders, but had acquiesced on Garrus's say so. The armour sets were relatively light, being the emergency gear C-Sec beat cops were outfitted with. A set of heavy "Jannisary" class combat vests without the rest of the suit and a set of kinetic barrier harnesses that projected blue "tech-armour" plates into the air above the user's skin. The weapons they'd been supplied were more standard. A pair of Lancer assault rifles and Predator pistols.

Garrus finished signing the necessary paperwork while they suited up and let the Krogan out of the shuttle's blood pan. One could see the shuttle visibly buoying up on its mass effect cushion as the monster disembarked.

Wrex eyed Jenn who was a full half ton lighter than him and roughly a head shorter than him. His reptilian eyes appraising her carefully, predatory intelligence lighting them with an inner fire. "Do I know you human?" his voice rolled with a deep growl.

"My name's Shepard," Jenn stuck out her hand." Wrex looked at for a moment then shook it gingerly. "I'm going after Fist. I hear you're looking to do the same. Thought you might like to come along," she slipped him a sly smile as she secured the last tech glove in place and ignited it.

Wrex let out a rumble of breath; a sound of recognition. "Ahhhhhh. Shepard. Commander Shepard if I remember right." She nodded. "I've heard a lot about you. Didn't realize that was you in the den."

He shifted slightly into her space. "We're both warriors Shepard. Out of respect, I'm going to give you fair warning. I'm going to kill Fist." Jenn just smiled sweetly up at him, "I didn't exactly think you were bringing him cookies." Wrex huffed a small laugh.

Garrus had sidled back to them after dismissing the other officers, "Fist knows you're coming. We'll have a better chance if we all work together."

Wrex nodded thoughtfully, "My people have a saying. I hear yours have a similar one. "Seek the enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend.""

Shepard nodded, "Then I'm glad to have you on the team. Let's go I'd hate to keep Fist waiting." Garrus handed Wrex back his confiscated weapons.

Now, a group of armoured police officers or soldiers always demand a certain amount of attention and respect, but add a Krogan to the mix and it's like having your very own personal ice breaker ploughing the way ahead of you. People hurriedly scattered in all directions to get out of the party's way. "We're not exactly being sneaky here Garrus, what are the chances that Fist isn't going to bolt?" Jenn asked as the group jogged along. "Pretty good actually. Fist's always been a little bit crazy, but lately he seems to have come to the conclusion he's invincible. He'll relish the chance to beat a C-Sec raid."

As they pulled around the last corner to the club it became apparent Garrus was correct. While there were not hordes of armed guards in sight there also were no club hoppers waiting at the door. No bouncer in sight. **_So they've holed up inside._** "About how much resistance are we going to meet?" she asked.

"Fist. His bouncers who're also his seconds and about ten or so of his muscle. Assuming our projection on his business are accurate," Garrus huffed.

They stacked up around the club's main door. "Can you get any of them to surrender? They can't all be as stupid as Fist, right?" Jenn asked.

"Possibly, hold on." Garrus brought up his omni-tool and switched on a voice magnifier. "Attention! This is a C-Sec Raid. Come out with your hands up and throw down your arms and you will not be harmed!." he shouted to the people inside. There was no immediate response.

"Alright. I guess we do this the hard way. I'll get the door. You got the flash bangs Vakarian?" He nodded. Shepard set her omni-tool against the door lock and initiated the hack sequence. It beeped once…twice…three times and the door slid open. Garrus chucked a cluster of small ovoid grenades through the door; there were a series of loud bangs followed by anguished bellowing.

"The team rushed through the door. Two of the men were on the ground just inside the door writhing with their hands over their ears. Garrus tagged them with stun rounds. The others were in various states of disarray. The first bouncer, the one who had mouthed off at Jenn on her previous visit, popped up behind the bar hefting a shotgun. Jenn hammered him back down with a hail of assault rifle fire.

Out of the corners of her eyes Shepard saw Garrus tag another thug who slumped to the floor as the stunners took him. She then caught another pair getting hauled into the air by a biotic field. Jenn then shifted to fire on a mercenary who had taken a position behind an overturned table and let loose again with her rifle. She spotted Wrex ploughing his way around the far side of the bar, a pile of dead thugs in his wake. Now there was only one merc and the final bouncer left.

The merc popped up again to let loose a shot at her; it deflected off the hard tech armour plates over her chest. A burst from her Lancer tore his shoulder open and he fell with a cry. She looked around for the final contact, spotting him in the corner grappling with Wrex.

Wrex's shotgun lay discarded on the floor next to him and he had hooked arms with the other Krogan. The smaller Krogan tried to break the hold but Wrex was too strong. Taking a stance, he proceeded to pummel the weaker Krogan into submission, beating his brow plate against the other's until Wrex's adversary started to look dazed and bleary eyed.

Winding up one last time he pulled back his head and walloped the little punk right between the eyes causing an instant knockout. Jenn sidled up to the still panting bounty hunter, bending down to pickup his shotgun along the way. "Nice. Remind me never to let a Krogan get a wrestler's grip on me… here," she handed him his shotgun."

"You two spot Fist in this mess?" she queried. "Nah. but I'm willing to bet he's in the back office waiting for us," rumbled Wrex. She proceeded to the locked door at the back and started her omni-tool on hacking it. "You got anymore flash bangs Garrus?" He shook his head a negative.

The door slid open into the club's cargo port. A pair of frightened dock workers brandished weapons at them. "You're not supposed to be back here!" the first yelled. Shepard just rolled her eyes. "Really? We just blasted our way through a room full of Fist's thugs and you're worried about us not being authorized personnel?" The Two Dock workers looked a nauseating combination of sheepish and pant wetting afraid. "Get out of here. While you still can," she barked, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. The dock workers blinked at each other for a moment then dropped their guns and bolted through the door.

"Huh, who would have thought that would actually work," grunted Garrus. "Hey sometimes people surprise you," Jenn teased with a smile. The private office now lay unguarded at the far end of the dock.

They stacked up on the door again and prepared to breach. Shepard made sure everyone was in position then began counting down, "three, two, one." The door slid open. "Wait don't kill me I surrender!" shrieked a voice from within. Shepard blinked surprise and stepped further into the room, rifle raised. A man in red and black combat armour cowered behind a desk. "I thought you said this guy thought he was invincible?" Shepard asked Garrus.

Wrex rumbled a response first. "It's easy to think you're invincible when you have an army to hide behind. Isn't that right little pyjak?" he sneered at the cowering man. Fist nodded his head, all too happy to agree with the people holding him at gunpoint.

"I'll make this real simple," murmured Jenn softly to the man as she came around the desk and pressed her gun to his head, "Where is the Quarian?" The man actually whimpered, "She's not here. I don't know where she is now, that's the truth!"

Wrex smirked. "He's no use to you now, let me kill him," he said in a hurry to complete his contract. "Wait! Wait! I don't know exactly where she is, but I have an idea where you can find her." Jenn gestured for him to continue. "She's not here; said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself.

Wrex scoffed, "Face to face? Impossible." The statement was simple. "Even I was hired through an agent. Nobody meets the Shadow Broker, ever. I don't know his true identity." "True," admitted Fist, " but the girl didn't know that." He shook his head. "I told her I'd set a meeting up. But when she shows up it'll be Saren's men waiting for her, not the Shadow Broker."

Shepard was pissed. "You're going to tell me where that meeting is before I blow you away personally. What kind of bastard are you? Setting up a girl to be murdered," she hissed, pushing the muzzle of her rifle against his temple.

"Here on the wards," he blurted, "The back alley behind the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. If you hurry you might get to her in time," he pleaded.

Jenn was about to open her mouth when there was a loud boom and Fist's face evaporated. "Really Wrex? You couldn't wait until I wasn't looking at him. Now I've got blood all over my face," she complained. He snorted, "The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him." He shrugged, "I don't leave jobs half done. I was kind enough to wait until you got the answers you needed." Jenn admitted she wasn't broken up about his death, "A lot of people died for him. I'm not gonna feel to bad about him dying. Come on, the Quarian's still in danger."

"I'm going to stay here and collect the evidence if you don't mind. We'll need it to convince the council," suggested Garrus, starting to shuffle through a now blood splattered pile of electronics on the desk.

"Fine with me," Jenn called over her shoulder as she hurried out the door, "Just catch up soon as you can," and rushed out of the club.

They made good time through the ward's backstreets, however because of Fist's duplicity they were nearly too late. The Quarian was a spry little female who flung a concussion grenade right in the face of a pair of Salarian mercs and their Turian handler before ducking for cover. Shepard immediately ordered her little squad to open up on the ambushers. The Salarians, despite their amphibian agility, were not fast enough to dodge bullets. The Turian proved little better despite bearing the paint of one of Saren's house retainers. He caught a shotgun slug from one very angry little Quarian.

She was still venting quite effusively by the time that Shepard and her team got down to where she had sheltered. "He set me up! Fist set me up!" she swore, "Bosh'tet!"

Quarians were a strange race Shepard reflected as they drew close. Because of nearly two hundred years of exile aboard the sterile environment of their starships their immune systems were shot. This one was dressed fairly typically for a Quarian. Head to toe rubberized environment suit, with metal plating reserved only for her helmet and an armguard. Tubes fed this way and that, and over it all a beautifully decorated purplish shawl and cowl. Also, like all Quarians, her face wasn't visible behind her helmet's face plate. The vague outline of a semi-human face could be narrowly discerned through a violet glass pane. Her eyes shone like lights through the glass, two light purple stars.

Jenn decided that opening with some compassion might be best. "Were you hurt in the fight?" The girl shook her head, " I know how to look after myself. Not that I don't appreciate the help," she allowed. "Who are you?"

"My name;s Shepard. I'm a Commander with the Alliance. This is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, and the big guy's name is Wrex." "Urdnot Wrex," supplied the Krogan helpfully.

"We're looking for evidence to prove the Spectre Saren is a traitor? We hear you might be able to help us with that?" Jenn asked, cocking her head.

The girl bobbed her head, "Then I have a chance to repay you for stepping in on my behalf, but perhaps not here?"

"We could take her to the Ambassador's office," offered Alenko, he was about to continue when sirens hollered at the end of the alley and a pair of C-Sec Cruisers pulled in. Garrus got out of the first followed by a pair of very dour looking Turian agents. "Figured all the gunfire must be from you. I caught a ride with these gentlemen who were already on their way," he gestured to the other two. "Reports of gunshots."

"You appear to get in all sorts of trouble Commander," gruffed one of the agents. "You're wanted in relation to two, no three counts of illegal gun play and one count of tampering and defacement of public property. Now, Officer Vakarian has cleared you regarding the firearms violations, but you're still wanted for the other."

"Oh yeah, that," said Jenn sheepishly. "Care to explain yourself?" asked the other officer. "Well you see, I was looking for Chora's Den,…. you don't need to look at me like that," she replied, seeing their expressions. "The investigation was taking me there anyway. But the VI terminal gave me the run around then threatened me with a C-Sec flag for looking up the place, so I figured I'd get even if I was getting in trouble anyway."

The officer sighed and lowered his omni-tool which he had been recording on. "We do need to lower the sensitivity of the VI censors, but the tech geeks have been fighting to purge your little present from the servers for the last two hours. They just can't seem to get rid of the thing," he sounded off, highly exasperated. "I will let you off with a warning this time Commander. Please don't let it happen again." He and his equally taciturn companion turned and left, getting into their cruisers and leaving.

"Do I want to know?" Tali asked, looking at Shepard curiously. "Eh. I'll tell you about it later If we have some time."

"Come on Shepard, I'll give you a lift to the embassy." offered Garrus as two medical examiner's vans pulled up.

"You're not making my life easy Shepard," groused Udina loudly as they walked into his office for the second time that day. "Firefights in the wards, an all out assault on Chora's Den and defacement of public property. Do you know how many…" he paused, spotting the new girl. "Who's this Quarian?" he said throwing his hands in the air as though beseeching heaven for mercy. "What are you up to now Shepard?"

Jenn settled into a parade rest position and with an admittedly slightly smug smile said "Making your day Ambassador. She has information linking Saren to the Geth."

Udina gave her a disbelieving stare. "Really…" he said half absently. "Maybe you should start at the beginning miss," he invited the girl.

"My name is Tali," she offered happily, "Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya." **_Oooh, thats' a mouthful. I think i'll just call her Tali, _**thought Shepard. "We don't see many Quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" Udina asked, striving to be as civil as possible to a foreign citizen. **_Wish he could summon up some of that when talking to his own people._**

"I'm on my Pilgrimage," Tali explained, "My rite of passage into Adulthood." Jenn spoke up here, "I've never heard of a Quarian Pilgrimage before." Tali nodded unsurprised. "It's a tradition among my people. When we reach maturity we leave the ships of our parents and our people. We search the galaxy for something of value to return to the flotilla." she said. "In this way we prove ourselves as worthy of adulthood."

"What kind of stuff do you look for?" Jenn asked, genuinely curious. "Resources, technology, knowledge that could benefit the flotilla. Even ships on occasion. We prove that we will be a benefit and not a burden to our community and our limited resources," she explained proudly. Happy to find someone interested in her people for a change. "Could you tell us what you found?" Shepard asked.

"During my travels I began hearing reports of Geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the Geth have never been known to venture beyond the veil. I was Curious." **_Curiousity nearly killed your cat. Brave or crazy to seek out Geth on purpose. _**Shepard was betting on brave. "I tracked a patrol of Geth to an uncharted world. There I waited for one to become separated from its platoon. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core," Tali explained.

"I seem to recall something about the Geth frying their memory core when they die, some kind of defence mechanism," offered Captain Anderson who had stood off to the side until then. Tali just nodded but continued, "My people created the Geth. We have some tricks. If you're quick, careful and lucky, small portions of data can be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean," she raised her omni-tool, "except this. In its audio banks." A recording began playing when she tapped an indicator.

"Eden Prime was a major victory," Saren's voice rang out, "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit." he declared triumphantly. "That's Saren's voice!" cried Anderson with satisfaction. "This proves he was involved in the attack."

"Wait theres more! Saren wasn't working alone," said Tali hurriedly. She hit the indicator again, and this time a female voice spoke. "and one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

Udina spoke up here, "I don't recognize that other voice, the one talking about Reapers." Jenn felt something tugging at a memory, "I feel like i've heard that name before."

"According to the core, the Geth believed the Reapers to be a hyper-advanced machine race that existed around fifty-thousand years ago, a time roughly concurrent with the Prothean Empire. According to the core they hunted the Protheans to extinction. All records of the Proteans end at this point. They effectively vanished," explained Tali bringing up the relevant quotation in a text record on her tool.

Udina was frustrated, "Sounds a little far fetched." Jenn spoke up in the Quarian's defence, "That would be in line with what the Prothean beacon seems to be showing me. Death at the hands of synthetics? Also, it doesn't matter whether or not its true if the Geth believe it enough to invade our space," she stated.

"The Geth appear to revere the Reapers as gods, existing at the pinnacle of synthetic life. They believe Saren knows how to make the return." agreed Tali.

"The Council is just going to love this." griped the Ambassador.

"This is a lot to take in even without the Reapers. They might just ignore everything else we say," lamented Shepard.

Anderson disagreed, "Even if they don't believe that part, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor." Udina seemed loath to admit it by he agreed with the Shepard's assessment, "The Captain's right, we need to present this to the council right away."

"Ah, and what about our Quarian friend here? Tali right?" asked Kaidan. "You saw me in the alley Commander, you know what I can do. Let me come with you." she asked excitedly, pleading.

"I thought you were on a pilgrimage?" Shepard asked confused. "The Pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good," she declared. "What would it say about me if I turned my back on this?" she asked rhetorically. She shook her head, "Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My pilgrimage can wait," she sighed.

Jenn looked at Wrex and Garrus. **_Got two aliens already what's a third at this point? _**"I'll take all the help I can get at this juncture," she shrugged and stuck out her hand. "Welcome aboard?"

"Thanks, you won't regret this," Tali promised. Udina stepped forward. "If I may have a copy of that audio file Miss Zorah. I'll see about presenting it to the council. Shepard…" he said turning to Jenn, "Meet us at the Citadel Tower whenever you're ready."

It was close to half and hour later that Shepard and her team finally found themselves in the Citadel Tower, after having stripped off and turned in the equipment they had borrowed from C-Sec. Ashley had rejoined them finally. "Heard you managed to get yourself into trouble again Shepard." She had smiled. "How'd you meeting with go?"

Ashley had sighed. "He's caught up in one of the Alliances red tape nightmares. The Authorities wouldn't release Nirali's body to him until they'd run tests on the body for a fifth time." She shook her head angrily. "I helped him cut through the bull. They'll be shipping her home now. She had been excited to hear they were going to "Nail that Turian bastard to the wall." and had joined them when they went to meet the council.

Admiral Anderson stood just down the stairs from the actual Council chamber waiting for them and gestured for them to follow him when he spotted them. "Come on Udina's presenting the Quarian's evidence to the council." He lead the way up the stairs. As the crested it they heard the audio from earlier playing. "Thats abut the third time they've played it. had to get the Salarians to run an authentication on it" Anderson murmured as they came up to stand behind Udina. The rest of the Party Spreading out to take seats around the podium.

"… And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." the recording wound to a close. "You wanted proof. Well there it is." Declared Udina pointing in the councillor's faces.

The Turian councillor was the first to respond shaking his head sadly "This evidence is irrefutable Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre Status, and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes." He promised.

"I recognize the other voice." Admitted the Asari to his left. "The one speaking with Saren? Matriarch Benezia." She turned to look at Jenn who was now standing up beside Udina.

"And who is she?" Shepard asked "Matriarchs are powerful Asari who have entered the final stage of there lives. They are revered for wisdom and experience. They serve as guides and mentors to my people." The Councilor confided. "Matriarch Benezia was a powerful biotic and she had many followers. She will be a formidable ally for Saren."

The Salarian Councilor spoke up impatiently. "I'm more interested in these Reapers. What do you know about them?" He asked Shepard. "Not much" she admitted "The Geth seem to believe them to be godlike in someway. Powerful machines responsible for the extinction of the Protheans. They believe Saren to be the one capable of brining about their return."

Here Anderson spoke up. "We believe, from what we've been able to infer from the Geth data, that this "conduit" whatever that is the key to this plan." "Do we even know what this conduit is?" Asked the Councillor.

"Saren and the Geth believe it could bring back these Reapers. Thats Bad enough don't you think?" Asserted Jenn. "Listen to what you're saying though. Saren wants to bring back machines that wiped out all life in the Galaxy? Impossible, insane, it had to be." Objected the Turian Councillor. "Where the Reapers go, why did they vanish? Why have we found no trace of their existence? There are too many questions." "I tired to warn you about Saren and you refused to see the truth. We can't afford you to underestimate the threat again. Don't make the same mistake." Shepard pleaded.

The Asari councillor disagreed. "This is different. You proved Saren betrayed the council. We all agree he's using the Geth to search for the conduit." Even the Salarian councillor nodded agreement here. "But we don't have any real evidence as to why." The Salarian spoke up in support "The Reapers are obviously just a myth commander. A convenient fabrication he uses to bend the Geth to his purposes."

Jenn could't believe what they were saying. "Even if that's true. We'd be remiss to ignore the possibility that we are wrong. The Beacon spoke of a Prothean extinction at the hands of synthetics. If we are wrong and Saren finds this conduit? It will happen again." She declared.

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life." Scoffed the Turian councillor. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."

Finally Udina spoke up in Shepards support. "That is not good enough! You know he's hiding in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!" he demanded. "A fleet is not meant for tracking down one man." Asserted the Salarian representative. "A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region. Keep the Geth from attacking any more colonies!" Udina protested. "Or. It could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems." Responded the Turian angrily. "We won't be dragged into a galactic war over a few dozen colonies."

"There's an alternative. Send the Normandy." Suggested Anderson. "It could find Saren without the risk of provoking the Terminus systems." "The Captain is correct." Admitted the Asari looking to her cohorts. "There is a way to stop Saren that does not require fleets or armies. The Turian apparently saw she was going somewhere with this, because he started yelling. "No! It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres." He argued.

"I've faced Saren on Eden Prime and exposed him for a traitor. I think I've proven myself." Stated Jenn staring at the Turian coldly. He turned looking to his fellows for support and to his surprise found none. Reluctantly, he acquiesced.

"Commander Shepard step forward." Order the Asari Councilor formally. Shepard looked to Anderson who nodded encouragingly. She could feel the atmosphere shift in the room not only among those involved in the hearing but in the observers in the stands and the team mates seated behind her. She shifted forward ahead of Udina who stepped back with what for him passed for a gracious nod. Lights ignited and centred on her where she stood on stage and a hush fell over the audience.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel." Started the Asari Councillor.

The Salarian leaned forward taking the next portion. "Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fires of service and battle. Those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file." Intoned formally.

"Spectres are the embodiment of courage, determination, and self reliance. They are the right hand of the council. Instruments of our will." Declared the Asari again.

The Turian "Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of Galactic peace. Both our first and last lines of defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"Congratulations Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species." announced the Asari. "I am Honoured Councillor." Jenn murmured Respectfully.

" We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He is a fugitive from justice so you are authorized to use any means to apprehend or eliminate him. Are we understood?" Intoned the Salarian councillor.

"Any Idea were to start?" Asked Shepard. "We will forward any relevant files to you via Ambassador Udina. This meeting of the Council is Adjourned." Announced the Asari.

Shepard gave a stiff but shallow bow and stepped back from the podium. The Councillors began to file away from their own.

Anderson and Udina stepped up to her, Anderson hand extended. They shook "Congratulations Commander." Udina however was all business excited at the new political prospects ahead of him. "We have a lot of work to do Commander. You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies." He listed off. "You will have access to special equipment, training, funds, and intelligence?" Offered Anderson. "Spectre requisitions is located down in the C-sec academy."

"Anderson. I need you to come with me again." declared Udina. "I'll need your help to set all this up. They marched off together.

Her team got up out of the row of seats they had been waiting in Tali and Garrus towards the front. "You would think the Ambassador would be a little more grateful." Said Tali. Jenn just shrugged. "Until I find Saren. Technically I haven't done anything. Until then All i've done is generate more paperwork." She smiled thinly. **_Still feels good to be a Spectre. How about that? _**

"Looking forward to working with you all." She said nodding to each of them in turn. "Now lets go catch us a traitor."


	7. Chapter 7: Citadel Part IV

Quick Authors Note: First of all thanks to fahRENheit2006 for all the help and reviews. Secondly anyone wanna know what the Leyte Gulf looks like check out this person's work art/Alliance-Frigate-Concept-V2-443234780.

Chapter 7:

Nearly two hours later after a short dinner at a small cafe that catered to Citadel Tower staff members, Jennifer Shepard found herself in C-Sec's Spectre requisitions office getting fitted for some new sets of armour. Shepard was surprised to find out that upon induction into the Spectres every member was eligible for a free set of equipment, as well as access to the her new Spectre discretionary capital fund. All two hundred and twelve million credits of it. The requisitions armoury master had already outfitted her with a Spectre Armouries HMWA Ten Assault Rifle, HMWSG Ten Shotgun, and HMWP Ten Heavy Pistol. The Naming conventions for them were horrendous. Firing them was anything but. The weapons were all perfectly balanced, flawlessly accurate and so beautifully modified they nearly made her weep.

Her brother had popped back up with Garrus as the machine finished measuring her for a helmet. "Found your brother in a holding cell down in D block." Jenn looked up sharply at her brother who smiled sheepishly in response. She sighed big sister even now. "What'd you do?"

He tried to shrug it off. "Oh, nothing too serious." He tried to assure her "Its not that interesting. Not nearly as interesting as big sis becoming the first Human Spectre." He wagged his brows at her expectantly. Jenn just raised a brow back at him and he sighed. " Alright. Alright. So I may have shot the hell out of a computer in as store on the Presidium."

Jenn was surprised. John may be impulsive sometimes but he wasn't stupid… usually. "What'd the computer do to deserve a ventilation?" She asked incredulously. "I was investigating an anomalous signal bouncing around earlier and i followed it around found it was skimming info and money here and there and redirecting it." he explained. "I was following it through some store fronts when I ran into that Turian guy you were hanging out with earlier. Nihlus?"

Jenn nodded crossing her arms over her chest. he was stalling. "Anyway. I ran into the guy and it turns out he was also following a weird signal so we both followed it and found a computer in the office behind some Hanar's store and started looking it over for where the signal was headed. Well… It turns out the computer may have been an illegal AI." Jenn blinked surprise. AI's were illegal in Citadel space since the Geth incident. "Well I guess it didn't like a marine and a Spectre poking around and it decided if it was going down it was going to take us with it and tried to overload a conduit behind the wall. I admit it. I panicked, I never was good with demolitions. Not like you. So I shot it. Then Nihlus Shot it. Eventually it stopped working and the conduit shut down." He concluded rubbing the stubble atop his head.

"And Nihlus is where?" she asked, John just shrugged. "Don't know. The Cops came in he told them he was a Spectre and beat feet." **_Nice._** "Come on Jenn. I told you my story now tell me yours." he pleaded almost childlike.

She relented releasing her arms to her sides again. "Ok. You know about The mission already I assume. Take down Saren for his crimes at Eden Prime?" He nodded. "Well what more is there to know?" She asked. "Who nominated you. Do you even know?" he asked.

"That would be Nihlus. I suspect Anderson and Hackett had a hand in it as well though." John nodded thoughtfully. "Why'd the Turian nominate you, do you know?" Jenn shook her head. "He only said something about my record being impressive and that not all Turians resent humanity." She inclined her head to Garrus. Yet another Turian who had proven to like humans just fine.

John plodded up to the screen of the Auto-Armourer and read it's analysis. "Says here you lack the "necessary biotic talents" to truly benefit from Spectre Combat Armor so its gonna hook you up with the next best thing. Jenn pouted a little. "Yeah how can you tell the systems a little Asari biased when it comes to Spectre's?" She asked sarcastically. "Every last one of them's biotic to one degree or another."

"Still Rosenkov Materials Titan MK X heavy armour's pretty sweet. Says here its got a higher kinetic resistance rating than the Spectre standard even. Just it completely pants at biotic resistance or augmentation." John commentated scrolling through the info packet.

He whistled "Wicked barriers though. A suit like this would go for a couple million a pop usually." Jenn nodded satisfied. A notice popped up on screen. **_YOUR PRODUCT IS CURRENTLY BEING MANUFACTURED. E.T.A TO COMPLETION 10 MINUTES. WOULD YOU LIKE THIS PRODUCT TO BE SHIPPED DIRECTLY TO YOUR SHIP? Y/N._**

Jenn tapped "yes" and stepped down out of the Scanner and picked up the Weapons case at her feet. John picked up one of the heavier ones just to be nice. Mom had shined him up well. when she'd adopted the two of them he'd been rough to say the least. all grime and bruises. And a whole boat load of resentment.

**_Not so much now. _**Reflected Jenn eying him to of the corner of her eye. Now he was almost always smiling about something. His eyes almost permanently creased from laughter. At least while he was around her.

Garrus Tailed behind them. "So where'd the others get to?" She asked him. He held up a hand "Wrex and the other humans. Kaidan and … Ashley?" he asked confirming there foreign names. "are all aboard your ship. Last I heard Tali was still sitting dockside mooning over its exterior. Says its the "Prettiest ship she's ever seen." She'll be looking forward to seeing the inside I imagine." **_Quarians and their ships._** Jenn smiled as the entered the elevator leading up to the dock space rented for the Alliance. The Two ships coming into view through the elevators glass sides as the ascended. Normandy and Leyte Gulf. **_May their names live forever._** Mused Jenn.

Jenn waved to indicated a stylized shark's maw and eyes that had been painted onto the side of the Gulf. It's main gun protruding from it's jaws. "That you'r idea or is that a silly question?" She smirked at her brother. He grinned broadly. "you better believe it!"

"So when you shipping out again?" She asked. John calculated. "Probably tomorrow barring any unexpected hiccups." he decided. "Cerberus just struck a science station out in the traverse. Don't know any further details though" he admitted.

"Good luck. You'll need it." She said as they pulled up to the dock. "Terrorists never fight clean. Watch your back." He nodded his face sliding briefly to grim. "You bet." was his reply.

As they disembarked they saw that the Captain and the Ambassador were already waiting for them at the base of the bridge onto the Normandy. Udina tapping his foot impatiently. Jenn turned and grabbed the last case from her brother and nodded to him. he nodded and stepped back to watch her depart.

"We've got big news for you Shepard." He barked, jumping right in as usual. "Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now." **_Wow. Think of got bruises on my jaw it hit the floor so hard._** Anderson apparently had spotted her shock. "She's quick and quiet." He said. ",And you know the crew. Perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well, commander. Jenn looked at him for long moment. Judging whether his cheer was real or feigned, concerned for her old friend. "I'll take good care of her, sir."

"I know you will commander." Jenn looked him in the eyes. "I would like the truth David why are you stepping down, sir?" He just shook his head. "You needed your own ship. A Spectre can't answer to anyone but the council. Beside its about time for me to step down anyways." Jenn looked askance at him.

"I was in your shoes twenty years ago, Shepard. They were considering me for the Spectres." **_So that pig Harkin was right after all. and?_** she asked silently. "What was I supposed to say?" Demanded Anderson chagrined. "I could have been a Spectre, but I blew it? I failed commander. Its not exactly something I'm proud of!" He shook his head ruefully. "Ask me another time I'll tell you the whole story. I was sen't on a mission with Saren. He made sure the council rejected me."

"I had my shot. It came and went. Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes." **_Wow. Thanks for the extra pressure David. _**"I won't let you down sir." She promised lifting a placating hand.

Anderson shook his head to clear it somewhat, to get back on topic. "Saren's gone." He advised. "Don't even try to find him. But we know what he's after. The Conduit. He got those Geth of his rampaging across the traverse looking for the thing."

Udina stepped in here. "There have been sighting of Geth poking around our perimeter at our colony on Feros. They've also been seen in the vicinity of Noveria." Anderson picked up the thread. "You could go to Feros or Noveria and hope to cut him off at the pass. But its risky what he's looking for may not be there at all."

"We have one more lead. Perhaps a bit more solid?" offered Udina. "Matriarch Benezia, the other voice from the recording?" he glanced up to make sure they were following. " She has a daughter. A specialist in the field of Prothean studies."

"We don't know that she's involved but it might be a good idea to try and contact her. See if she nows anything. Her names Liara. Doctor Liara T'soni." He continued. "We have reports she was supervising an archeological dig on Therum in the Artemis Tau cluster. We haven't heard from the site in days but thats not unusual. It's highly isolated."

"Sounds like a good place to start." Allowed Shepard. "We'll keep trying to raise the dig site. If we get a hold of them before your arrival, we'll let you know." Promised Anderson. "But remember your a Spectre now. The Decision on where to take your ship is yours now. You don't answer to us." Udina apparently didn't like that assertion. He scowled."But your actions will still reflect on humanity as a whole. You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up." **_Yes Udina because whats most convenient to you is really always representative of humanity's position as a whole._** Jenn rolled her eyes internally. Like she needed him to tell her she couldn't just run willy nilly.

"I'm not about to go out of my way to make things harder on you Ambassador." She commented dryly. Nevertheless he seemed mollified somewhat "Glad to hear it Commander. Remember, you were Human long before you were a Spectre." He sighed apparently tired. "But I have a meeting that needs attending to. Captain Anderson can see to any questions you might have." He walked off with that stiff upright pose he always held.

She waited until he was in the elevator before turning back to the Captain. He was rubbing hard at the spot between his eyes. "How you Holding up David?" She asked him concerned.

He looked up into her face and breathed out a gust of air. "Honestly? This isn't how I imagined my career coming to an end." He shifted over to the dockside railing examining the ship which up unit moments before had been his. "Pushing paper isn't really my thing." He said this with a sad smile to Jenn.

Jenn sidled up to the railing as well. He continued as she leant against it "But you're the one who can stop Saren. I believe in you Shepard." he declared with conviction. "If that means I have to step aside? Then so be it."

They both stood and reflected on this. **_Why does somebodies gain always have to be someone else's loss?_** Jenn wondered to herself rhetorically. She Drew in a breath and blew it out. "As much as I wish it were possible to just stay and talk its probably best I get a move on eh?" Anderson just Chuckled "Yeah you probably should. You run your external visual. I'll head in and get final clearance run through for you. Maybe shave off a couple minutes off your departure time?" He pushed off the railing. "Good luck out there Shepard. Don't be afraid to come in from the cold once your done though." Shepard laughed at his small joke. He stuck his hand out and they shook one last time before he left.

She nodded to her brother who tipped an imaginary hat at her, winked and then hurried off to catch the same elevator as Anderson. Garrus waited patiently by the boarding ramp. "You go ahead Garrus i'll be right there. She turned to look her ship over. A formality mostly, modern checks and maintenance being what they were. **_But it's always better to be safe than sorry. _**A creed Jenn basically lived by.

The Normandy was the first of her kind in the Alliance Navy, and currently the only one of her kind. Built around her new experimental "Tantalus" drive core, the Normandy was surprisingly small and compact. A long smooth curved hull, its nose protected by a small pair of armoured fins. Two downward sloped wings on either side housed the ships primary thruster assemblies armatures on each wing connecting the secondaries to the whole. At the back just slightly forward of the tail was the comm and sensor mast. A triangular construct secured parallel to the hull.

The Normandy like most frigates was lightly armed. Relying on its hit and run abilities more than anything. Its quintet of small mass accelerators and six G.A.R.D.I.A.N point defence anti-fighter/missile lasers made it highly lethal to frigates and smaller craft, but not so much to anything of greater tonnage. Bigger ships meant stronger kinetic barriers and thicker hulls. Which is why frigates also had a pair of torpedo tubes just below the primary hull beside the shuttle bay doors. The tubes could fire either disruptor torpedoes or Javelin ship killing missiles.

**_Well that about sums it up._** thought Jenn. **_All tubes secured. All Guns retracted. The Hulls undamaged and the engines seem to be correctly aligned. _**She shook herself. **_No more stalling. Time to get this show on the road._**

She grabbed her packages from where she had dumped them at the foot of the jetway while inspecting the ship and headed toward the airlock. The ships onboard V.I detected her approach and a section of hull hissed and slid outwards and up out of it's housing to allow access to the primary door, which also slid open at her approach. She stepped inside and the door hissed shut behind her and clunked as the mag locks engaged.

"Prepare for decontamination. Please place all items in the decontamination terminal and step into the circle in the centre of the room." The V.I's dull female voice intoned from the speaker. Jenn did as instructed. "Please do not move. Decontamination in progress." A light ignited along the wall and a low energy energy barrier slid across the room incinerating any microbial contaminates, while a series of tanks began pumping a fine anti-bacterial mist into the air around her.

The decontamination lasted around a minute while the process worked. The decontamination screen making the hairs on her skin stand up. "Decontamination complete. No radiologicals detected. Logged Commanding Officer is Aboard. X.O Pressly stands relieved." The Ship announced. Jenn picked up her new gear from the receptacle and proceeded through the final lock into the room behind the cockpit. Joker was lounging in a relaxed fashion one leg kicked up over his other his hand resting behind his head as he leaned back in his seat. He nodded slightly to her.

"You ready to get this bucket moving ?" She asked. He just laughed. "Always Commander, but it's just Joker if you don't mind, or Jeff if you insist. She's just waiting on a batch of cargo Spectre requisitions just sent up." Shepard new armour delivered right to her ship, as promised. She eyed the pilot speculatively. Take off usually required almost ten minutes of preflight had he anticipated her arrival or was he just that good?

"What can you tell me about yourself Joker?" A shadow crossed the pilots face and he snorted. "I can see where this is going. You did a background check on me didn't you?" He almost accused. **_Whoops red alert. What'd I do to step on his buttons? _**She wondered eyes widening. "I'll tell you the same thing I told the Captain." He growled. his previously affable expression gone. "You WANT ME as your pilot Commander. I'm not good. I'm not even great. I'm quite possibly the best damn helmsman in the Alliance Fleet." He declared. Shepard sighed and settled in for the rest of the soliloquy. Clearly he'd had this conversation before. "Top of my class in flight school? I earned that! All those commendations in my file. I earned those too. They weren't just given to me as Charity for my disease." **_Ah. So that why this sounds so rehearsed. He's had to defend himself before. What's this disease about though that it's such a big hairy issue?_**

She threw up her hands to forestall another diatribe. "What's this about a disease? Are you ill?" She asked. "You mean you…" his face changed as understanding settled in. "You mean you didn't know. Ah crap." Chagrin colouring his voice.

"Ok. Where to start?" he mused, some of the belligerence leaving his tone. " I've got Vrolik syndrome. You may have heard it called brittle bone disease. The bones in my body never developed properly. My leg bones in particular are basically hollow. Too much force? And they'll shatter." **_Ow._** "Even with leg braces and crutches it's hard to get around. One wrong step and CRACK. It's very dramatic! But i've learned to manage my condition, Commander." He asserted. "Put the Normandy in my hands and I'll make her dance for you. Just don't ask me to dance. Unless… you know? You like the sound of snapping shinbones?"

"Okay, Okay I get it. The disease isn't gonna be a problem for you doing your job. Why in god's name would anyone refer to you as Joker?" Shepard asked a little taken aback. He offered a grim smile. "It's a lot shorter than saying "Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau". Plus I love to make children laugh." Jenn just shook her head. "I was just thinking you reminded me of Santa Claus. I hear he very good at ripping superior officers a new one."

He let out a gust of air. Looking mildly embarrassed. "Look, I didn't pick the name. One of the instructors in flight school used to bother me about never smiling. She started calling me Joker. It stuck." he shrugged noncommittally. "Why didn't you smile?" Shepard asked leaning against a copilots seat. She noticed an indicator had lit up. Engineering had just reported ready, if she read it right. Joker glanced at it and flicked it off. "I worked my ass off in flight school, Commander." He said plainly. "The worlds not gonna go handing you anything if you go around grinnin' like an idiot."

" By the end of the first year. I was the best pilot at the Academy. Even better than the instructors and everyone knew it. They'd all got their all got their asses kicked by the sickly kid with the creaky little guess who was smiling at graduation?" He smiled ruefully.

As team of flight engineers and navigators had all made their way to their seats as they had been talking. More indicators flicked on and where promptly flicked back off. "And how are you handling the Normandy. She performing like they said she would?" She asked. Gesturing to the vessel around them. Joker smiled this time patting the console beside him fondly. "Best ship in the Fleet. Assuming you have someone who knows how to handle her. The Balance isn't what you'd expect." he explained. "Takes a while to get used to that monster drive core they've got in back. The power can sneak up on you if you're not careful."

"The Normandy is probably to much for your average pilot to handle. Luck for you? I'm anything but average." said proudly a thumb jerked towards his chest. "Thats why Captain Anderson convinced the Brass to forgive me for the whole "Stealing Alliance Property" thing."

Jenn Sighed. **_Just when I thought we'd gotten past the rocky part. _**"I'm probably gonna regret asking this but what "Stolen Alliance Property?" She asked. He waved his hand dismissively. "Oh you know just took the Normandy out for a test drive. I brought it back." he said. Shepard stared at him. "You stole the Normandy?" She murmured. "Well I had to prove I was the best pilot for the job. Anyone who can get a ship like the Normandy out of dock without alerting the crew that anythings wrong. Then dodging a joint Alliance/Turian picket fleet? Knows what they're doing." Shepard pinched her nose. Joker indicated yet another symbol that had lit up. The dock had given them the slot in the schedule to undock. He looked askance to her. "Everyone aboard?" he nodded. "Then lets hit it" She replied. He spun his seat back round his hands going to the controls. Soon she felt the Ships inertial dampers kick in as the station mag grapples released the ship from its berth. The Ships engines purred and a slight feeling of reversing rumbled through the deck. The Ship edged into the launch queue behind a civilian Kowloon class freighter. " Jokers hands danced across his board sliding the into forward motion.

"So…" he started casually never taking his eyes of his gear. "I heard what happened to Captain Anderson. Survives a hundred battles? Then get taken down by back room politics. I tell you. What is wrong with the higher ups that they can someone like that?" he shook his head sadly. Jenn grunted her assent. "Just watch you back Commander. Anything goes wrong with a mission like this? You'r gonna be next on the chopping block."

"Doesn't feel right taking his bird." She muttered. Joker nodded briskly. " Yeah. But nobody blames you for it Commander. Everyone on this Ship knows your gonna do right by the Captain. So we're all behind you Hundred percent." He encouraged. "I'm gonna open the intercom. If there's anything you wanna say to the crew nows the time." She glared at him. He gave her another encouraging smile as the comm light blinked on. **_Well now I'm stuck. What I have to be an orator on top of a marine. Somebody's been watching too many movies… Start with the basics and work your way up. You'll do fine._**

"This is Commander Shepard speaking." She began "We have our orders. Find the rogue Spectre Saren before he finds the device known as the conduit."

"I won't lie to you crew. This mission will not be easy. Saren is an elite operative with significant experience with escape and evasion. But we will find him." She offered striking out for honesty.

"For too long our species has stood apart from the others. Its time for us to do our part. to show the other species what Humanity is capable of, what we can do."

"Our Enemy knows we're coming. When we drop into the traverse Sarens forces will be waiting for us. But we're an elite crew. Some of the best the Alliance has to offer, we'll be ready for them." She asserted. Turning to look down the Bridge operations tunnel. She could see most of her new ground team, human and alien alike had gathered around the galaxy map in its centre.

"Humanity needs to do this. No just for our own sake." She shook her head absently as she felt her way through the speech. "But for the sake of every other species out there. Saren Must be stopped. But I will promise you we will stop him." She snapped off the comm.

Joker was nodding happily. He at least appeared convinced by her speech. "Well said Commander. The Captain would be proud."

" I won't let him down Joker. But for now its time to get this bird into the black." She ordered. "Aye, Aye Commander." He replied enthusiastically. Shepard marched down the hall to brief the her team. She felt the floor heave as the Ship reached the jump point and the leapt to F.T.L.

**_Indeterminate Space. Artemis Tau Cluster_**

**_Many Lightyears from the Mass Relay._**

Therum, in the Knossos system of the Artemis Tau Cluster lay about two and a half days away from cluster's Mass relay. Which left the commander with not a lot to do beside collect status reports prior arrival. They would arrive at their destination later this evening. So she had started her routine this morning after breakfast and her daily reports. She had decided to start with her Alliance crew first as she would be relying most heavily on them to keep her crew together while she was otherwise occupied. Pressly had been first. Pressly was an aging veteran navigator. He had fought during blitz and had served aboard the Agincourt. An experience which had jaded him somewhat to the Alien races. The Vessel which had come to rescue Shepard and her small resistance during the attack on Elysium. He had expressed concern over the presence of non-alliance people being part of her crew. She had disagreed with his concerns and had reasoned out why they needed to work with the other species. Pressly may have been old and a little set in his way. But he wasn't stupid. He had understood the gravity of the situation when it was explained to him and even why the other species had as much right to take part in this mission as the rest of them. He had conceded grudgingly that the Commander was probably making the right decision.

From him She'd moved on to Kaidan. Kaidan unlike Pressly had never displayed any evidence of pre-existing biases. He was also significantly younger like most of the crew. Personable and handsome enough in his own right he'd be one of those the crew would bring their problems to most often. She found him as she wandered down into the mess hall sit at a table by himself picking at a plate of rations. Today's chef surprise? Pearl potatoes and grits. Even Kaidan who was known to eat anything looked unhappy about the grits.

She slid into the seat across from him, leaning in when he looked up. "Ah Commander I was just about to come looking for you." He said setting down his fork. "Oh something I need to know about? Besides the awful rations?" she gestured at his plate smiling slightly. He Chuckled. "No something other than the mediocre food's been bothering me. Off the record?" he asked

"Ok. Sure." Jenn leaned back in her chair draping one arm over it. "I think theres something wrong here. This Saren guy is looking for records on some kind of galactic extinction event right?" She nodded and he continued "But despite this we can't get backup from the council? I'm sorry Commander, Its just theres writing on the wall here and were the only ones that are reading it?" He asked incredulous. Jenn interrupted "I mostly agree with you Kaidan. It just seems wrong that the people responsible for billions of lives are less than interested that someone believes they have the ability to wipe them all out." He grunted assent. "However one thing to keep in mind. Out here? its not always bad to be able to operate independently without the brass or anyone else double checking your choices. We need to be able to react fast to catch Saren." Alenko mulled this over and nodded "true. Its just I feel like a group with the councils resources should see something like this coming. Its funny we get out space I mean and it turns out the "Final Frontier" is already settled." he chuckled a little bitterly "And the residents don't seem to even notice the view or the dangers anymore."

Jenn Laughed **_Well ill be. _**"An Idealist. You join up to "secure" mans future in space?" She asked. He held up a hand and grinned to fend off the laughter bubbling in her voice. "I'll admit, I read a lot of those books when I was a kid. The Hero heads to space, to prove himself worthy of a woman or to carry out justice." He grew serious again. "You know I may have been and idealist or a romantic before? But I thought about it after brain camp…" He noticed a studiously blank look across from him. "Ah… sorry. Biotic, Acclamation and Temperance training." He supplied, then got back on track.

"I'm not looking for the "Dream" I just wanna do some good you know. See whats out here. Change the universe a little?" He sighed and apologized "Sorry if I'm a little informal. Protocol wasn't a big focus during B.A.a.T, not like at the Academy."

Shepard just waved that off. **_I could actually use to know a little more about Biotics. Beyond the biological mechanics that is. _**"Why don't you tell me a little about it?" she offered. He nodded willingly enough. "Biotic, acclamation and temperance training." Kaidan said again. "But the whole "Acclamation and Temperance" part didn't last long past the airlock. For us kids they hauled in it was "Brain Camp…. Sorry hauled in may be putting it a little to harshly. We were "encouraged" to submit to an evaluation as to the nature and extent of our abilities so that an understanding of biotic ability could be compiled."

"There were worse results of accidental exposure to element zero while in the womb." he reflected. "Beats the brain tumours a lot of kids had to deal with growing up." Jenn nodded she'd heard a little about that part. "I heard some of those companies had "arranged" to have those accidents occur. Just so they could study the results." But Kaidan was already shaking his head a little. "There was never any "conclusive proof" of that actually occurring though I wouldn't put it past some of them. Anyway's it wasn't like that at least in my case. Mom happened to be downwind of a transport crash. It was before people knew about bionics just a little after the martian ruins were dug up. You only start running into those odd stories and coincidence around what was it? Sixty three? When that Company Conatix started running out of first-gen subjects."

"A couple guys in jumpsuits show up at your home after school and next thing you know, poof! You're out on Jump Zero." Shepard nodded thoughtfully. "So you never heard of a confirmed case of intentional exposure?" He jerked his head in a negative. "No one knows for certain. You see in the early days no one knew about the consequences of element zero exposure. Accidents were common. So the sheer numbers of those exposed was overwhelming. Too much data to pinpoint anything."

"Gagarin was where B.A.a.T was located. Isn't that were they did all the old F.T.L research prior to the discovery of the mass effect?" Jenn asked remembering something from her engineering courses. "Kept it right out there on the solar systems terminus just in case?" She asked. "That's the place. Pretty sterile place. Still reminiscent of a research platform."

"At least you weren't alone out there. There were plenty of other kids in the same boat right?" He laughed a little in response. "True, and at least there was this little group of us that got together every evening before lights out."

"Time to make friends?" "Yeah we'd sit there and play games, cards, or just talk…" He paused a little reluctant. "There was this girl named Rahna had a little circle of friends grow up around her. She was from Turkey. Her family was very rich." he remembered. "But she was smart too. We might have had something but things never fell together you know? Training." He said as an explanation.

"Gagarin station. Looks a whole lot better in the vids." he reminisced. "Anyway's sorry Commander. This was supposed to be a casual debrief not a session on stuff that happened years ago." Jenn didn't mind and told him so. "I like to get to know my crew." He looked unconvinced "You… Uh. Make a habit of getting this personal with the crew."

Jenn shook her head "Not really, no. Just key personnel, the people i'll have to work most closely with. Then again I haven't had a command of my own before." he gave her an odd look. "I'll keep that in mind Commander.

They stared at each other for a moment. And growing mildly uncomfortable Jenn sat up and dusted some imaginary particles off her pant legs. "Well. I better continue my rounds lieutenant. It was good talking with you. Look forward to doing it again. "Me too Commander." he said sincerely.

She Grabbed a pre-wrapped veggie wrap from the freezer on her way out and headed to the elevator. It was only going down one floor but it still managed to be painfully slow descending. **_Gonna need to talk with Adam's about that, see if he can get a maintenance team together to look at that… On the plus side, more time to my lunch!_** It was almost a whole minute to descend that one floor.

When the Door finally slid open she spotted the person she was looking for almost immediately. Actually three of the people she was looking for, and two of them we're egging on the third while she beat the crap out of Jenkins.

This may have been a slight exaggeration but not much of one. Ashley Williams was apparently running the rest of the Normandy's marine detachment through hand to hand combat drills, and Shepard had arrived just in time to see her snake an arm around his head and neck and fling him a few meters through the air to clap down onto the hard metal deck plating. Garrus and Wrex stood on the side lines whooping as Jenkins struggled to rise. Wrex made some bawdy remark about how she'd better watch her back or he might start to find her attractive. Ashley looked vaguely green already at the notion. Jenkins wheezed and managed to get to his knees. "That was awesome." He tried to say. Ashley caught Shepard's eye. **_Should I keep going with this?_** She seemed to say. "Keep going chief. I'll wait." Replied Jenn to the unspoken question. Ashley nodded and helped Jenkins clamber to his feet before taking the group through a group takedown maneuver. It involved, to Jenns eyes a lot more flailing than was necessary, even on Ashleys part.

Ashley was clearly very serious about her job. Her body was equally clearly kept in peak physical condition. Muscles glinting with sweat from her exertion. They ran through the scenario three more times before Ashley seemed satisfied. She waved the other three off and the limped away as fast as their bruised limbs could carry them. Garrus and Wrex hooted one last time in congratulations at her before sidling off to the other ends of the bay. Ashley grabbed a towel off the floor and dabbed at the sweat.

"Have a minute to talk?" Jenn asked. Ashley nodded "Yeah, was'up Commander?" she panted. "Just looking to get a handle on my crew. SO if you have any problem or concerns I should hear nows the time." Ashley grabbed a water bottle off a workbench at the side of the bay. she sipped a couple times then nodded again. The panting had receded. "Sure. Okay. were to start?" she asked hauling down breath quickly. "I know things work differently aboard the Normandy but I'm Uh….." She slanted a look across the bay. "I'm concerned about the Aliens." She finally admitted. She rushed on "Vakarian, Wrex, Tali? With all due respect Commander. Should they have full access to the ship?" She asked dubiously.

Jenn thought she saw where this was going She nodded. "I think so and I normally wouldn't need to explain myself but under the circumstances the question you ask is valid." she allowed. "They may not serve the Alliance. But for now they're Allies at least as far as Saren goes…" She paused to allow Ashley to weigh in again. "I guess I understand that reasoning. Its just… This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy. Doesn't seem like a good idea us allowing them to poke around our vital systems. Engines, Sensors, Weapons?" She offered.

"Any particular reasons you don't trust the Alliances allies?" Jenn asked leaning against the bench as Williams secured a new shirt over her utilities undershirt. She shrugged once she had it on. "Not sure I'd refer to the Council races as Allies. We, Humanity need to be able to rely on ourselves." Jenn waggled her head noncommittally "Standing up for ourselves doesn't mean standing alone." She pointed out. Ashley conceded the point. "I'm not saying we should turn down or alienate allies. It's just…. I wouldn't bet the farm on them staying allies, you know."

"As noble as the Council races can seem at times. I'm pretty sure from the way the treat us, that they view us as expendable." Jenn pondered this bold statement. "It's not racism so much as pragmatism." Argued Ashley. "It's only natural they'd value their own people above ours. So when push comes to shove we get left out in the cold, or to behind to be eaten by the bear."

Jenn nodded to Ashley "These seem like important beliefs to you Williams. Anything make you think this way?" She asked recognizing the trend in Ashley's points. Self-protection.

Ashley bobbed her head tying her hair back in its proper place. It having come loose during the fighting. "My family have been with the Alliance since it was founded. My father, grand-father, and great-grandmother all swore the oath of service…" She declared proudly. "I guess we just tend to think of Earth's interests as our own now."

**_OK._** Jenn thought for a moment she figured she had an answer to Ashley's questions but she wanted to clear some stuff up first. "It doesn't sound like you've worked with aliens before?" She asked "No sir. Mainly i've been a ground pounder. Assigned to surface garrison forces. I did get a rotation on a space station for training." She offered, and then quoted. "Every marine a rifleman. Every rifleman Zero-gee certified."

A list of crap posting in other words Jenn translated in her brain. Brought up a portion of Ashley's service record on her omni-tool. Scanning it over. "That's odd. Your record thus far appears spotless…. And your technical scores are exemplary. Why aren't you serving with the fleet?" She asked glancing up at Williams who blanched a little. "Anyway's ma'am thats why I've never served with any Aliens before." She deflected. **_A question for another time. _**The answer wasn't in her file.

Trying a different tact "My mom… My adopted mom that is, is in the Navy too. Anybody in your family we might know?" Ashley just shrugged still standoffish. "Couldn't really say Commander. We probably have enough in common though. You join up to carry on the tradition?" She asked. "Mainly I wanted to serve. Protect the Alliance, Save lives? You know. Especially after what happened to me on Mindior." She'd already told Ash that story. She was offered a sympathetic smile. "Glad to hear it. Didn't really get the impression you were out here for the free education."

**_Well thats about as clear as its gonna get._** Figured Shepard. "Alright I guess I can see where your concerns are coming from. But this is a multilateral mission. Nothing that can be done about it. You'r gonna need to work with aliens like it or not."

"Not gonna be a problem Commander. You say jump. I ask how high. You say kiss the Turian. I ask which cheek." She replied dutifully. Jenn laughed "Not likely to happen Ashley but you never know. Just keep one thing in mind for me okay?" "Sure what?"

"Garrus and Wrex just spent the last, what half an hour cheering you on. Like you were already one of the team in their eyes." Ashley nodded sagely her eyes tilting up as thought about it, she got the message.

"Well. As much as I wish I could just keep up these conversations all day, I should go." Said Shepard pushing off the bench. "We'll talk again soon." Ashley saluted. "looking forward too it Skipper."

**_Next up on the Shepard tour of awesome? Engineering. _**Engineering was accessed by a small pair of corridors on either side of the bays main elevator shaft. So jogging across the bay Shepard was immediately in engineering. It was bathed in the light of the Tantalus drive core. An energy shield shimmering in between the cores reactor and the crew, protecting them from harmful radiation. Jenn spotted Tali in a fairly excited conversation with one of the engineers off to the side her arms pinwheeling energetically. Chief Engineer Adams. **_The man of the hour._** Was at his post, the main engineering maintenance and management console. A slightly under middle aged man with a close shaved head and face, Adams was one of the more affable members of the Naval Crew that Shepard had met. Also thanks to her own engineering background they hit it off fairly well. They had spoken before on the theories of non-mass effect reliant F.T.L, and about the status of the Normandy. However now that the ship had been put through its paces a little Shepard wanted to see if the vessel was holding up.

She sidled up beside him, he nodded to her smiling and closed down one of the diagnostics he had been running. "Hey Commander. I swear your psychic I was wanting to talk to you about something." Jenn grinned to herself, she had timed her tour of the ship perfectly. "Is it about the busted elevator?" She joked. Adams looked confused. "Is that thing acting up again I swear I got O'hanlon to take a look at it." Jenn just shook her head happily "Nope, slow as a Hanar on Quaaludes." She joked. He shook his head at that image.

"Anyway…" he started plowing through that distraction. "You know that Quarian, Tali?She's been spending all her time down here, asking all sorts of questions about our engines." Shepard was concerned. "Is she getting in the way. I could ask her to leave you alone." Jenn offered Adams just looked startled. "What? No! I wish my guys were half as smart as she is." he hurried to assure her. "Give her a month She'll know more about those engines than I do. Got a real knack for tech that one. I can see why you recruited her for your mission." Jenn nodded. "I figured she had some talent. Could be a real asset." Adam's hurried to agree. "Definitely. you've sure got an eye for talent Commander. Just wanted to let you know she's working out great."

Jenn was happy. **_Good to know some of the choices I'm making are the right ones. _**"So Adams, I came down here for a reason believe it or not." He laughed "Sure what do you need?" "I was wondering how the Normandy is holding up since we last spoke, elevator notwithstanding." He smiled. "She's amazing Shepard. Never served on a ship her equal and I've served on a lot of ships. Quiet too, but you knew that." Indeed she did. The Stealth system was in fact the core around which the ship had been based right down to the near magical drive core. **_The internal emission system, or I.E.S_** she recited to herself **_works by taking the energy created by a ship particularly light and radiation and internalizes them in a massive system of heat sinks. Seeing as energy emissions are the primary means through which you detect an object in space hiding them makes you as good as invisible. At least for as long as you can keep sinking them into the system. Once it reaches capacity you need to vent it or you turn your crew into sundays turkey dinner. Well done. Doesn't work against visual scans though. Gotta remember that. "If you see it, you can shoot it. If you can shoot it you can kill it." _**She remembered quickly. "with a pilot like Joker and a team like the one i've been assigned and you've recruited." he indicated the excited Quarian youth show as currently doing something that involved her arms being stuck out like wings and hoping on one leg. "I don't think any ships gonna out do the Normandy for some time." He said happily.

Tali finally noticed Jenn standing there watching her, and jumped visibly. Letting out a small squeak the little Quarian hustled over. She threw out her arms in an expression of awe. "Your ship Is amazing Shepard, I've never even heard of a drive core like this before." She gushed. "It's amazing your able to fit it into such a small ship." The small light mounted on the front of her helmet flashed in time with her speech. It was practically a solid purple light by the end of the sentence. Jenn was once again give the impression of a vaguely eastern european accent from the young woman. "I begin now to see why the Alliance has prospered. I had no idea Alliance vessels were so advanced."

"The Normandy's a prototype" explained Shepard. "Cutting-edge technology, no other ship in our fleet is quiet so advanced." The girl bobbed her head in understanding. "A month ago I was patching a make shift fuel line into a converted tug ship in the flotilla. Now I stand aboard one of the most advanced vessels ever conceived in Citadel space." She said in awe.

"I should really thank you again for allowing me to come along. Serving aboard a ship like this is a dream come true for me." She said happily bouncing a little.

"I had no idea you found ship tech so interesting." Shepard laughed. **_Hey i've found someone I have something in common with. _**"It comes with being a Quarian. The Migrant Fleet is the key to the survival of my people. Ships are therefore our most valuable resource." She explained. "But we don't have anything like this. We make do with cast off's, second hand equipment and retrofits. We just try and keep them running as long as we can. Not any easy task with some of the Batarian Garbage we're forced to buy. Some of the Fleets largest Vessels date back all the way to our original flight from the Geth. Thats how hard up for solid hulls we are."

" Amazing, I can't believe your people are capable of keeping three centuries old starships flying." Said Jenn impressed. She noticed Adams had returned to his console with a smile on his face. "They undergo a constant regimen of repairs, modifications and refits. They aren't pretty, but they work…. Mostly." Tali offered, and then went on. "We've tried to make ourselves as independent as possible on the Flotilla. We grow our own food. Mine and Process our own fuel. But some things we just can't make on our own." She admitted.

She gave an example. "A patch for hull integrity? That requires raw materials we just don't have. That's part of the reason Pilgrimages are so important." Jenn nodded and asked "What are your people like?" Tali sighed behind her mask. "Our lives aren't easy. Resources are scarce and we are all constantly on the move. Everything we do must, in some way, contribute to the migrant fleet. There are roughly seventeen million Quarians in the Flotilla. And each of us relies on the others for survival. Our bonds are strong. But as you can imagine. Living under such conditions have required us to surrender many of the freedoms and civil liberties other species take for granted." She offered thoughtfully.

" Such as?" Prodded Jenn. "Well its illegal for parents to have more than one child. If our population grew too fast? It would strain our resources to the breaking point. Of course we can't allow or numbers to decline either. If our numbers grow to few, the rule about single births is repealed. In extreme cases incentives are offered to encourage multiple births." She said.

"You government decides these things of course?" Shepard asked."Correct. Its called the conclave. It's the civilian branch of our system. Its representative being made up of elected officials from each ship. Its decision can affect our fleet as a whole. Individual ship matters are decided by the ships Captain. Which make the decision process on their election critical."

"So in theory your ruled by elected officials?" Jenn asked to be clear. "In theory yes… We are technically ruled by a senior board of Military Officials, The Admiralty Board. In cases of Emergency the Admiralty board has the authority to override or veto decisions made by the conclave. It requires a unanimous vote and afterwords the Admiralty must resign there posts. This is so it can be done only once."

Jenn pondered for a minute. "Your people are the original inventors of the Geth, correct?" She asked lifting her eyes to Tali's mask again. "Anything you could tell me about them? Tali seem unsure. "Maybe, it depends on how much you already know. It's been almost three centuries since my people were driven into exile."

She considered where to start. "All I can really think of that might give you insight into them is what we know of their origins. The Geth were originally designed and built to function as an automated labour force. Initially their intelligence was as limited as any V.I. Overtime the collection of small modifications we made to their programming made them evolve." "And the Council didn't step in while you were doing this." Jenn asked. Tali just shook her head. "No. This wasn't true A.I research after all. The changes were so insignificant, so gradual, it allowed us control… or so we thought." She sighed sadly.

"I'm betting the problem developed from the networked intelligence." Jenn offered. Tali jumped startled again. "Oh. Yes thats right. I forgot that you were an engineer too. I so rarely get the chance to talk to people who truly understand this stuff." chuckled Tali. "Anyway yes, we underestimated its power. We didn't anticipate accurately just how smart they were when they were all linked together. Individually they were still simple, each of them unique. Technically they still are simple to this day. They may not be a true Hive mind they're processing power is far to limited for that. But together they'd surpassed what we'd believed them capable of."

"One day their thinking became more theoretical and abstract. They started asking questions of their overseers which the Quarians did not know how to answer. Questions like "Am I alive, Why am I here, and What is my purpose." The final question the one that caused the panic among my people was "Does this unit have a soul?"

"Now you may not see what is so bad about these questions." Shepard just shrugged. She could guess. "But remember what we'd designed them for. Mundane and repetitive work. Fine for a V.I but wholly unfulfilling to a true sentient creature. They were showing signs of self awareness. If they were intelligent we couldn't be using them without enslaving them. We believe it was inevitable the Geth would rebel against such a situation. We acted before such an event could occur. An order went out across all Quarian Space. "Permanently deactivate all Geth Units." The Geth reacted violently to this order. They had advanced farther than we thought."

"Can't say I blame them for fighting for their survival." Offered Shepard. Tali puffed up indignantly. Jenn held up hands to forestall the protest. "I understand why your people did what they did. And maybe it was the only choice they saw to stop a synthetic uprising. But it was essentially the technological equivalent of genocide Tali. Under similar circumstances any biological life would react the same."

Tali cooled down a bit. Her posture less ridged. "And so now after a long and bloody war only a few million Quarians remain. We thought when we fled the home world that they would pursue us. But they never did, staying only within the Veil." She breathed. "And now we wander. Looking for ways to perhaps someday retake what was ours."

"They didn't need us. They resented us for enslaving them. They would have wiped us out had we not acted. And ultimately if we had stayed too. Sorry we Quarians have pretty strong opinions about the Geth." She explained.

"So the needs of the fleet and the need for a way to retake your home world are what drive the Quarians on pilgrimage?" Clarified Shepard."Yes, but thats not all. Its also a coming of age ritual. When we come of age we leave the ships of our birth and seek a place in a new crew for the sake of Genetic diversity. In order to secure such a place we need to prove ourselves worthy assets. We are give survival training and a basic set of equipment and then sent out alone. We present whatever we find in a triumphal return to the fleet."

Tali started realizing how much time they'd been talking for. "It was nice to talk with someone who wants to know about my people Shepard. But i've got to return to my duties. See you later?" "Do you mind if you sit out the mission aboard ship this time Tali?" Shepard asked. "not really. I can always do with less gunfire and explosions and your ship is so fascinating." Jenn Nodded and shook her hand. Dismissing the young woman to her tasks.

Jenn nodded to Adams on her way out and returned to the Landing bay. Wrex and Garrus were still at their posts but upon checking her omni-tools watch function she found that it was merely time for their arrival at Therum. She crossed to an intercom on the wall and hailed Joker up in the cockpit. "E.T.A at Therum, Joker?" Jokers reply came quickly "Uh. Five minutes Commander. Still no updates from the dig site according to Anderson. They tried contacting them but nobodies answering." Anderson and the Ambassador were not wrong, it wasn't uncommon for dig sites to drop out of communication a few days at a time. It was however odd for them to not even pick up the phone when called. A sinking feeling settled in Jenn's gut. She keyed the intercom to a ship wide channel. "Attention all crew please report to your stations. Lieutenant Alenko and Gunnery Chief Williams report to the main cargo bay. Special consultants, Vakarian and Wrex also please report to the main cargo bay." She snapped off the comm and waited beside the equipment lockers for her team to form up. Alenko was the only one off deck currently but the others had to get organized too. It took Alenko just as long as it had her to get down the last floor via the elevator. He shook his head in frustration as he got off, muttering a muted apology. The team formed a line. "You know Shepard we were in the same room, you didn't have to call over the intercom." Rumbled Wrex with humour in his voice. Jenn just shot him a look. "Alright here's the deal. We're going to drop out of F.T.L and have Joker try and raise the dig site again. Whether they answer or not were headed down there to extract an Asari doctor by the name of Liara T'soni. It's not unusual for a dig site to be quiet however i'm worried that they haven't answered any messages from the council." The team nodded, heads bobbing. The ship shifted slightly under their feet as it dropped to normal speed. "Alenko I need you flying co-pilot with Joker just in case we need to fight our way out. The rest of you? You're coming with me. Assuming the site doesn't answer Jokers hails, which I assume he's sending right now, We'll be dropping in heavy just a couple clicks outside the dig."

She indicated the ships single armoured vehicle which was secured off to the side of the bay. The M35 Mako Infantry Fighting Vehicle. "The Mako is designed for a low atmosphere drop so well be riding it down to the site. She heard Ashley groan low under her voice. "What?" she asked. "Uh ma'am you kind of infamous when it comes to the Mako." Kaidan Laughed.

**_What its not my fault the things handles like a three legged drunken rhino._** She told them so. "Aye ma'am thats true. But drunken rhinos don't tend to end up rammed through the cockpit window of a Batarian pirate frigate, or flaming upside down in a shopping mall." Garrus blanched, and gave the machine a fearful look. "Hey, that was all one incident, and the pirates where in the process of trying to grab hundred of slaves." She defended. "Ma'am you launched it off an overpass while firing the main gun with one hand and driving with the other. You launched it into the cockpit of said frigate, fired the gun one last time at which point the frigate crashed on top of the mall in which the civilians were hiding" Said Williams nervously. "The civilians were safe in the basement. I made sure of that." Jenn protested. "Anyway I promise I won't do that this time. There're no Batarian slavers in sight. Just a dig site on a red dustball."

Ashley looked doubtful. "I think I pack extra b-bags just in case ma'am" Wrex snorted and laughed "You humans are pansies." **_Where he got that phrase I have no idea._** thought Jenn. "How bad could it possibly be?" He asked thumping Garrus on the back. Garrus who was looking decidedly green. **_I wish ANN hadn't run that documentary on the defence of Elysium. Thank god they never caught wind of the thresher maw incident._**


	8. Chapter 8: Therum

Chapter 8:

Wrex couldn't remember the last time he'd been this sick. Perhaps that time he'd drank that whole barrel of Ryncol by himself, or maybe that time right after the rite when he caught an infection from all the cuts. Regardless Urdnot Wrex badass bounty hunter and slayer of monsters was as sick as a Varren. It turns out that Shepard was just as bad a driver as the other two Humans had suggested she was. The Mako had dropped from more than a kilometre up, as the Normandy had swept low over the terrain. The tank had dropped at terminal velocity, Shepard, The crazy wench whooping the whole while. The Thrusters attached to the Mako had fired at the last second slowing their fall so they didn't splat on the red dirt of Therum. They had rapidly rolled to a stop and Wrex, along with most of the rest of the ground team had emptied their guts into the "B-bags" Williams had brought along.

Wrex had to admit the first time he'd seen her he hadn't spared her a second glance, Shepard that is. She was short even by human standards and athletically thin as they judged such things. Black hair and grey eyes, something which was never seen among the Krogan. Pale skinned with a pink white hide that a large portion of the monkeys seemed to have. The only thing that had held his attention for more than a moment as he passed her was a scar which cut almost invisibly across her face. He had been told since that it was virtually unnoticeable to humans but his well trained eyes had caught it a sign of a fighter.

Even though she had been wearing the armour of the Alliance Military he had dismissed her out of hand, not a threat. His opinion during the second meeting had been more favourable towards her. She had introduced herself. She was a legend among her people. One even he, an alien had heard of. A N7 marine, a foe even Krogan had learned to fear. But more interestingly, at least to him, she was known as the Hero of Elysium and Survivor of the Akuze Disaster.

He read up eagerly upon the events when they had happened and had refreshed the stories in his mind upon joining her crew. She had held off a Batarian Slave party with the help of a handful of colonial militia and police officers. Then she had survived a slaughter in which most of the Platoon she served in was wiped out by a nest of Thresher Maws. This hit home and held weight with Wrex. He'd managed to kill a dreaded thresher during the rite, if only by the skin of his teeth. So for a frail human to have even survived was no mean feat.

And so now Wrex had come to realize that the Hero of Elysium was a demon in disguise. She had led them all into the metal deathtrap then dropped them all straight into hell, laughing all the while. Garrus had suffered equally, which was of small comfort to the Krogan Battlemaster. It just wouldn't do to for a Krogan to be brought low while a friggin' Turian stood proud. But the only ones who weren't currently violently ill were the humans. And Wrex darkly suspected that that was only because the Chief had anticipated her boss's driving and not eaten.

Once he finally stopped puking his guts out and finally taken a look out the forward view panel over Shepards Shoulder Wrex had to admit Therum was pretty. It reminded him of home, almost like Tuchanka in its deserts desolation. Red as opposed to tannish brown, but hey you couldn't have everything. Hot too, just the way a Krogan liked it. They'd barely been on the ground five minutes and already the Humans had already cranked the A.C. He had gently ribbed them about their mammalian vulnerabilities at the time.

As Wrex stuffed his last Barf Bag into the disposal Shepard reached up over her helmeted head and jabbed a holographic button, which kicked on a head up display on the tanks primary viewer. A path illuminated over the rocks to some point around the curve of a mountain they were traversing. The reason they were out in the middle of nowhere as opposed to the camp Wrex remembered. Is because their pilot, Joker, had warned them that he had not received a reply when hailing the dig site. A minute later they found out why the dig site was apparently crawling with Geth. So instead of just plummeting into the heart of a Geth Division they had dropped a few "klicks" as humans called them away on the other side of the dormant volcano upon which it was situated.

"Okay" yelled Shepard over the roar of the Makos engines. "We all know why were here, we all no whats in the way. According to this feed we need to follow this path around the north side of the Volcano to a supply and security camp. We will likely run into resistance." The other nodded, some of them still looking green about the gills. "Once we pass through the camp theres a relatively smooth area a lava flow carved out right up to the dig site about two point five klicks away. There again we will likely run into resistance. Any questions?" She grinned happily to herself. **_The wretch_** thought Wrex to himself. "No, well ready up. Vakarian your manning the shields today try and keep us from getting blown up. Ashley you get the honour of manning the guns. Please try and hit something." She laughed. "As for you Wrex. For now just sit back and enjoy the ride."

As the crested a ridge the first camp came into sight. A scattering of perhaps two dozen buildings hugged the curves of the mountain. And anticipated they met Geth fighters. A quartet of antipersonnel turrets were assembled on a set of small peaks overlooking the camp. And around thirty Geth combat units skittered this way and that between the buildings. Perhaps most concerning was the Geth drop ship hanging is the air above the camp like a giant predatory wasp. "Alright, everyone ready for this?" Shepard hollered. They all answered in the affirmative. Shepard nodded and slammed the sticks forward dropping the tank over the slope's lip and accelerating towards the camp. The main gun thundered and Wrex caught the sight of a small explosion detonating among the buildings. The forward kinetic barriers lit up as pulse rifle fire streamed from the enemy units and pinged against them. A small explosion rocked the mountain side causing the Mako to jerk slightly, a canon round from the dropship.

Shepard responded, yelling "traversing left!", and then yanking the sticks left causing the whole vehicle to rocket in that direction. Wrex grabbed a hand hold above his head to steady himself. He could have sworn the tank had gone up on only half its wheels. The main gun boomed twice more and Ashley yelled down. "Two turrets down, two to go."

"Traversing right!" announced Shepard. A shadow passed over the view port as the Geth dropship adjusted position overhead, and again the ground shuddered as it fired at them. They were headed right for the main avenue of the camp a platoon of white Geth shock troopers moving to block their path. "Hold on!" she yelled and gunned the engine. A smattering of gunfire , and then a Geth bounced off the screen. "Oops" she chuckled as another bumped under the tires.

Again that damnable shadow crossed their view and the tank shook from a near miss. "Ash! Switch to the coax and clear these troopers. Fire at will. I'll see about getting that buzzard off our backs." Was Shouted as they rounded another corner out of the camp again. Ashley whooped in response and the turrets machine gun began juddering. She reached over and thumped a couple comm buttons. "Hey Joker…. Yeah I'm doing great." She hollered over another explosion. "Look theres a Geth drop ship harassing us any chance you could do something about that." She thumped the side of her helmet where her headset resided. "Yeah. I know that, but at least that way they won't be bothering me while they chase after you…. Yeah thank you love you too." She looked over her shoulder as yet another Geth thumped off the front armour. "Jokers gonna take care of it." She announced happily. A thunder rumbled through the hull and the drop ship swung into view as it tried to evade the fire suddenly coming from above. A mass driver round holed it amidship and flames belched from the wound it swung round again to try and get a bead on its assailant. Two more rounds struck it and it careened wildly trailing fire. It was almost overhead again.

Finally the things engines sputtered and the flames of its thrusters died causing it to drift downwards in a slow fall. Wrex could see a small swarm of Geth ship rise up of the crest of a ridge further round the mountain and streak off into the sky hunting the ship which had just killed their sibling. "Yeah Joker its dead thanks. We'll meet up once you've lost them" The little human called happily as the wounded ship crumpled into the ground. "Paths clear lets hit that dig site." That was Garrus. Probably desperate right about now to get out of the accursed vehicle. The vehicle swung in response and they roared toward the gate were a squad of the synthetics were attempting to fall back up the mountain. The Coaxial gun fired again and half of them fell to the ground, holes riddling them.

The tank growled and the tires ground as they roared up sloped towards a bend in the mountain. A bridge arced over a lava flow with a pair of turrets guarding its other bank. Ashley switched back over his head to the main gun which thundered a response to the machine gun fire rippling their kinetic barriers out front. First one then the other exploded allowing the Mako to rumble over the bridge.

As they curved around the edge of the ridge their objective came into sight. The main dig site was nestled at the top of a ravine, which had been carved into the mountain side. Prefabs, cargo containers and mining apparatus were scattered everywhere around a primary shaft. The problem, was that the camp lay at the far end of the ravine and not this end. The Geth had fortified the approach Hexagonal Kinetic barriers had been set up here and there in cluster like a glowing wall of honeycomb for the troopers to hide behind and pelt them with pulse rifle fire. In addition Wrex could see no less than three watch towers overlooking the depression. He was direly certain that other defences they couldn't see were present as well… Behind the great rock wall blocking the tank's path.

Shepard slammed on the brakes and the tank skidded to a stop at the foot of a rubble pile which had been collapsed across the primary road into the site. She leaned forward in her seat and looked up through the windshield at the outcroppings above the collapse. "Technically this shouldn't slow us down." She began "But… I'm virtually certain that the Geth have laid traps for anyone who tries to bypass the rockfall in a vehicle." She sighed "Lovely!" called down Ashley from where she still manned the guns. "So simply put. Were gonna have to go on foot the rest of the way. Everyone spool up your suits environment underlay, remember its hot out there we don't wanna be caught out were a hundred pounds of armour, so we're gonna need to move fast from cover to cover to keep from overheating." The Mako powered down and the small cabin became filled with the whirring of fans and liquid pumps as the rest of the crew hurried to follow her suggestion.

"Like I said Shepard. I'm cold blooded, this weathers just about perfect for me just like home." he offered. She considered him with those small grey eyes for a moment. Before bobbing her head. "Okay Wrex. You okay for taking point, i'll have your back?" This time it was his turn to nod. The thought of the coming fight got his Krogan blood pumping. He pounded his fists together enthusiastically. "Oh yes, its about time uncle Urdnot showed you what he's got." He grinned a feral light entering his eyes. "Time to get Uncivilized." he unslung his shotgun and opened the door hopping out and surveying the environment around them.

No Geth on the promontories above them, yet. He was betting they were waiting further in where the ravine created a better kill zone. He spun of his armours kinetic barriers and warmed up his own limitedly scoped, but strong biotic abilities to shield them. The others stacked up behind his checking there weapons. Shepard had opted for her brand spanking new Assault rifle, A little black beauty to cover his ass, whereas both Vakarian and Ashley had equipped sniper rifles to cover the rocks overhead and to tops of those sniper towers. Shepard patted him on the shoulder a signalled for him to wait just a moment more. He was almost quivering with anticipation. "Hang on Wrex just gonna launch some Drones." She had a little pair of Alliance Dragon-fly drones which she set to hover, high above their heads quietly. She motioned him over. "Since you're gonna be running point i'll sync you into there feeds as well. She pressed a button on the drone controller strapped to her wrist then grabbed his helmets heads up display and toggled its own button.

When she handed it back and he slipped it on a dozen little red marker were skittered on the road ahead. A pair of A.T mines in the rubble pile ahead. better watch out for those…. Ooooh nice choice of icon. The symbol Shepard had chosen to indicate mines was a stylized human frowny face. "Handy." he admitted. The rest of the icons ahead were for the hex-barriers he had seen further down the road and the Geth troopers concealed behind them. He glanced meaningfully at the rest of the team. He was ready to go. Shepard noticed his glance and nodded the go-ahead, signalling the rest of the team to follow. "What is you humans say Shepard?" he asked rhetorically jacking a round into the chamber. "Time to rock and roll?"

Jenn had to admit she was impressed. She heard that Krogan made fantastic soldiers but had never had the pleasure of watching one in action. Wrex in full battle armour was a couple tons of raw mayhem. Upon encountering the first Geth resistance he had gone wild as only a Krogan can, bellowing defiance as he charged them. Ashley and Garrus's rifles boomed as they picked the sentries off the rocks above, and Shepards new assault rifle made tearing sounds as she took down any Geth which weren't trampled to death by the stampeding lizard man. Oh Wrex mostly used his claymore shotgun vaporizing a fair number of synthetic platforms with up close blasts of fire. But he also didn't appear to mind the thought of going hand to hand with machines. She'd seen him head butt a Geth heavy platform into submission before crushing its flashlight head with a fist.

It was like advancing behind your own armoured battalion. He just laughed the whole way. A pair of shots rang out and Jenn was surprised to see they'd already reached the base of the hill were the sentry towers guarded the final approach. A pair of Geth snipers toppled out of the air and slammed into the ground dead from sniper rounds.

As a squad of shock troopers advanced down the dirt trail spraying them down with pulse rifle fire Shepard and the more frail members of her squad ducked behind cover and started returning fire Wrex stood tall ignoring the pulses of energy that skipped off his barriers. A volley of rifle fire and a pair of booms from Wrex's shotgun and the exposed enemy squad tumbled lifeless to the ground. Another sniper round from Garrus and the final sentry tower was down.

Jenn hunkered behind cover and waited to make sure the coast was clear. The drones read no more enemy units outside of the dig site. She signalled her squad to switch to close quarters weapons where applicable and advanced just behind the Krogan up the ramp.

As they crested the top of the dirt ramp out of the ravine it became clear that the defence mounted by the Geth up to this point had been nothing but a screen to conceal their real defence works set up at the actual site. Defences Jenn was annoyed to note which hadn't been marked by her drones. Sure a Squad of Troopers clustered around the shaft entrance to the dig, but the rest of the Geth had been left unmarked by the two machines she had lofted earlier. Not only had the Geth deployed a large almost ovoid construct in the centre of the camp but the catwalks crawled with lithe almost frog like Geth. Unarmored they appeared like the form of an athletic humans stripped of all their skin. Muscle like polyfibre cables forming the body of the creatures. Which leapt from surface to surface like the amphibians Jenn had compared them to.

A rain of sniper fire peppered the ground and her barriers as the freakish machine opened fire on her. "Everyone into cover now!" She shouted over the cacophony of weapons fire. "Focus fire on the hopping ones!" The others nodded eyes wide as the slid behind crates and mining equipment. She actually saw one sticking to the underside of a catwalk skittering on all fours before she knocked it off with a burst of rifle fire. She caught a round in her weaken barrier for her trouble though and felt a round slam into her side like a fist. The Armor held but only barely. **_Good thing I ordered the replacement parts. _**She felt at her side with her finger making sure the round hadn't penetrated. Another pair of hoppers fell as Ashley and Garrus chased them out for Wrex to blast. Another fell as Jenn reentered the fight her gun thundering. There were so many of them. Or perhaps it only seemed so because they moved so fast. Then a thought occurred to her. **_Wait where'd the other Geth go? _**She scanned the terrain and spotted them cluster around the equipment piece they had positioned outside the shaft entrance just as another one of the blighted skinny ones exploded.

**_Whatever that thing is it can't be good. _**She opened up on the small group but it was too late. with a flash of Kinetic Barriers and pop hiss of hydraulics activating the relatively small ovoid unfolded into a behemoth. Standing close to ten feet tall the machine was a quadrupedal monstrosity with a long neck and large gun mounted under it head. **_Ah crap. Geth Tank. _**The thing zeroed in on the immediately and started firing the massive pulse cannon mounted to its head. The ground shook and dirt flew as a dozer exploded. "Anybody got some A.A gear?" She called over squad comms." A trio of negatives blipped into existence on her hud just as the drones overhead finally decided to I.D the threat. "WARNING: GETH ARMATURE DETECTED." Announced one helpfully. **_A little late guys._** She fumbled with her armours equipment pouches looking for something that might help with a tank. She thought she had come up empty too when her hand skipped over a cluster of grenades at her belt. Anti-personel grenades but that the Armature was relatively lightly protected for an armour piece.

"Everyone got 'nades?" She asked over the comm. This time she received affirmatives. A plan began to form in her head. "Encircle the target watch for other hostiles. She shifted one vehicle to the left dodging a bolt from the Armature as she moved. She grabbed the belt with all its grenades and unhooked it from the rest of her gear. She heard a pair of booms. Wrex taking care of business. and spotted Ashley and Garrus repositioning behind a pile of crates a dead Geth had collapsed over. "squad suppressive fire, caution close fire." She announced. She received affirmative lights and heard the guns start firing and the scream of an answering pulse cannon bolt.

She readied the strap on the belt, set the grenade to remote detonate, checked the Armature had turned to engaged one of her team and ran out. Sprinting madly she nearly slammed into the side of the thing. It wasn't totally blind apparently because its head started to swing around to follow her as she closed with it. She swung the belt whipping out it wound around the hub where one of its legs met the main body. She didn't stick around see that it stayed. The things pulse cannon had started to whine as it charged. She sprinted yet again for cover.

An explosion rent the air and she was flung off her feet her back heating from the fireball as she was flung over a pile of equipment. **_Ow. _**"Clear!" she bellowed. She didn't have time to make sure that that was true of the other and depressed the detonate button. A flash and a concussion wave of sound poured over her. She clambered to her feet painfully to try and see if her plan had worked.

Partially, it turned out detonating the explosives that close to the machines hide had negated its barriers ability to deflect the blow. Nevertheless the Things armour had save it from immediate death. The leg the bandoleer had wrapped around was blown clean off but the others were intact. The shriek of angry Geth machine speak coursed through the air. A large whole in it's "chest" sparking its barriers were gone she could see fried in the explosion.

**_Just need to finish the job. _**"Squad concentrate fire on Geth Armature." She hefted her rifle and it roared in defiance against the great machine. Without its shields even the armoured hide of the armature couldn't withstand military grade rail accelerated rounds. They tore into its skin like angry driver ants exposing circuitry beneath. A pair of grenades thrown by her squad detonated beneath it. It hung suspended in the air for a moment then ruptured its primary core overloading from the trauma. Pieces of smoking debris rained down around them.

Jenn heaved an exhausted breath and scanned her H.U.D for more hostiles. The screen read blank. But after the latest fiasco she wasn't gonna take the drones or her radar's word for it. "Spread out. Look for hostiles." The others nodded or pinged her affirmatives and fanned out. She waited for Garrus to send he a thumbs up, an odd thing to see a Turian try, before relaxing a little. She hit her uplink to the Normandy. "Shepard to Normandy, surface appears secure, were headed into the dig site. Try and keep us updated about any developments." She flicked it off again before any response could come back. The rest of the squad had returned in the mean time. "Your damn crazy, you know that Shepard." Growled Garrus a smiled touching his lips. She huffed a small laugh. "It's worked for me so far, so don't knock it till you've tried it."

"All right everyone. Its gonna be close quarters down there so make sure your prepped for that. Wrex you'll take lead again. Me then Ashley will follow behind. Garrus you watch our six." The each nodded as they received their orders. All right stack up.

They formed up on the door. Shepard looking into Wrex's eyes as she counted down from three. She slapped the doors control and it slid open. wrex barrelled in first, but the shaft ahead was empty. She signalled the team forward and the proceeded at a jog down into the depths. It was then as they emptied out into the first chamber they caught their first glimpse of the subject the dig site had been organized to excavate.

It was Prothean clearly, the architecture and texture of the materials similar to that on Eden Prime. Its purpose was clearly different. A tall almost tower like structure descending deep into a natural cavern created by a lava pocket thousands of years ago. Its wall were dotted with windowed forcefields preventing access to numerous alcoves and corridors. Jenn wondered what it's purpose was exactly. She and her team were standing on a cat walk like gantry which had been assembled around the exterior of the tower. An elevator sat at the far end of the walkway snugged up beside the wall of the tower. It was also clearly in poor shape shot up pretty bad and as they grew closer stained with blood of various tones. The site of a mostly one sided fight.

Shepard looked around but clearly the elevator was the only way down. She hoped it was stable. She entered the elevator and accessed it quickly. Stable enough for what they were there to do. She gestured for the rest of the team to join her before shutting the lift door and setting it to descend.

It ground its way down nearly ten stories of track before grinding to a halt on a section just above the bottom which was just too mangled. She cursed silently and had Wrex help her force the door back open. Only a few feet down to the bottom not a serious issue to get down then. She was about to order he team out of the cabin when she heard it. A voice quavering out of the darkness. "Hello? Is someone there?"

She peered around looking for the source of the voice. It was only when the voice spoke again that she found its source. "Uh… Hello? Could somebody help me? Please?" It was then that she saw the Asari behind one of the forcefields. Floating in a bubble. She jumped down out of the Elevator and landed in front of the aperture the Asari was stuck behind. The woman gave a strangled squeak of surprise. The rest of the squad followed thumping down onto the final platform. Jenn had to admit she looked rough. Asari were usually beautiful almost without exception. This one was clearly sick and in distress. He skin was dry and cracked, her eyes bloodshot and her clothes faded and dirty.

The Asari woman jerked frantically in her stasis bubble yelling. "Can you hear me out there? I'm trapped, I need help!" Jenn raised her hands in a placating gesture. "We can hear you don't worry. Are you okay? Are you hurt" She called through the field.

The Asari nodded excitedly " No I'm not hurt. But I'm trapped. This device i'm caught in? It's a Prothean security device. I can't move much so i'm going to need your help if I'm to get out." Shepard nodded absently. She was virtually positive this was the Asari they were looking for if so they should proceed cautiously. Still even if she were allied with Saren, she was still clearly trapped and dying of deprivation, an ugly way to go. "How'd you get caught in there?" she asked. "I was exploring these ruins when the Geth attacked. So I hid in here. Can you believe it? Geth, Beyond the Veil!" Shepard considered this. If she didn't already know about Eden Prime which it appeared she sincerely didn't then it was likely she wasn't allied with Saren… right?

"I activated the towers defences." She explained. "I knew the Barrier curtains would keep them out. But when I turned them on I must have hit something I shouldn't have. I was trapped in here! Please you must help me get out. Please" The Asari started to get agitated again.

"Well get you out of there just tell me how to do it. Don't worry." Shepard soothed. "Theres a control in here with me, that should deactivate the device. Thats the tricky part. the defences can't be deactivated from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in." The Asari calmed a bit. The prospect of having something to do and possibly getting out helping her.

She cautioned. "Be careful there is a Krogan Battlemaster with the Geth. They've been trying many ways to get past the barrier." Jenn nodded. Ashley opened her mouth obviously about to protest trusting the woman inside the barrier. Shepard just gave her a look and she clamped her mouth shut. "Okay, we'll see what we can find." She shouted to the woman.

She just smiled thinly, cautiously optimistic.

Liara T'soni wasn't sure at first whether or not she was hallucinating her rescuers. She'd been trapped in the Prothean security bubble for what? Three, four days. By the goddess she'd lost track of time. She was dehydrated, exhausted and filthy, in no fit state to be communicating with anyone. Still she'd done her best to tell her rescuers what she needed. **_Reckless_** she chided herself, you didn't go just hitting buttons in a Prothean ruin. She knew this better than anyone, she'd been working in protean ruins for years. She'd seen what could go wrong inside one. But she'd been desperate. The Geth had fallen from the sky like hailstones. Landing and slaughtering her team while they worked on the excavation.

Now finally someone had shown up to try and save her from the predicament she'd found herself in. **_A mixed race team. Odd._** She mused with what was left of her shattered psyche. Two Humans, a Turian and a Krogan. She had been panicked for a moment when she saw the Krogan remembering its fellow who had led the Geth through the dig site. But she'd seen the symbols on the variety of uniforms. Alliance Marines and a Citadel Security agent. And gleaming dully against the uniform of the leader the symbol of the Special Tactics and Reconaissance corps. A human Spectre, last she'd checked their hadn't been any. But then again she never paid as much attention to politics as perhaps she should.

The leader had impressed, small for a human but carrying a great deal of authority in her posture and actions. The others had followed her without question. **_I wonder what she looks like? _**she wondered idly floating in place. She had worked with many humans in recent years. Many of the most recent team had been human. She'd even become so acclimatized to their alien appearances to start finding them attractive. Not that she'd ever acted on her attraction. Far too busy with her work for any such attachments. Especially with a species so short lived. **_Imagine only living a hundred years?_**

Her pondering was cut off by a flash of light beyond the barrier and an explosion that shook the structure around her. She wondered what the Humans had just tried. Surely they couldn't have figured a way around the defences that quickly? But sure enough Liara soon heard the whir of the building's primary elevator behind her she twisted to look over her shoulder. The human squad stepped off onto the platform where she was trapped.

"How? How did you get in here?" She stuttered shocked. "I didn't think there was a way past the barrier." The human smiled toothily at her and nodded past her to outside the curtain. "Blasted through with a mining laser." she shrugged nonchalantly. Liara remembered that piece of heavy equipment. It had cost the University back home a fortune. "Yes that makes sense. Please get me out of here. Surely more Geth will arrive soon?" She worried. "That button over there should shut down the containment unit. "She jerked her head at the console.

A caught some movement out of the corner of her eye but couldn't quite see what had caused it. One of the other humans spoke. "Hold on Commander, Her mothers working with Saren. You sure we can trust her?" **_Saren? What does he have to do with mother? And how is that relevant?_** She thought indignantly. "I am not my Mother." She stated firmly trying to spot her accuser. "I don't know why Benezia would work with Saren. I don't want anything to do with a bastard like him!"

"If she were with Saren would the Geth be trying to kill her?" the Commander responded reasonably behind her back. Besides can you condemn her to die like this Ashley?" there was a pregnant pause. She heard a shuffle of feet and heard the console begin beeping as the commander worked the controls.

With a final trill the bubble disappeared and she fell to the floor. Her knees giving out, unable to bear her weight after so much time unused. She felt a hand snake under her arm and hauled her to her feet. "Any Idea how we get out of here?" Asked the Turian C-sec officer dryly. "The elevator you rode to this floor should also be able to reach the top floor where the tower meets the walkways." She offered, struggling to stand on her own. "Alright. Come on then. They Helped her to the centre of the platform "I still can't believe all this. Why would the Geth come after me? Do you think Benezia's involved?" The accusatory human from before decided she needed to spell it out "Saren's looking for the Conduit. Think fast Ms. Prothean expert.

Liara tried to defend the unexpected attack. "The conduit? But I don't know what…" She was cut off as the entire tower rocked on its foundations. The woman swore "What the hell was that?" She grouched. The Asari rushed to think of an explanation. "The ruins are not stable not with an active volcano forming around them. The Mining Laser could easily have triggered a seismic event." She offered up. "We have to hurry the whole place is caving in!" She realized. She pushed off the Krogan who was supporting her now and over to the elevators console setting it to ascend. The leader had hooked into a communications Channel. "Joker get the Normandy right now, on the double." She called over increasing rumbling from the building around them. A response she couldn't hear must have come of the come because the Commander nodded. Nevertheless she had a concerned look on her face.

As the elevator reached it top floor they realized they had company. The barrier curtain had collapsed and the Krogan battle master had entered the tower, with a squad of Geth Shock troopers at his shoulder. The Commander pushed the Scientist behind her. Leveling her assault rifle at the new threat. The Krogan eyed it disdainfully, largely unconcerned. "Surrender" He declared boldly, then shrugged "Or don't that would be more fun."

"In case it wasn't obvious this place is falling apart. Now might not be the best time to have this kind of conversation." The building rocked to accentuate the Commanders argument. "Exhilarating isn't it?" Asked the Krogan Idly checking the load of the shotgun he hefted. "Thanks for killing the energy fields for us. Now hand the Doctor over and I won't have to kill you." Liara protested. "What ever it is your looking for your not getting it from me! You butchered my whole team!" The Commander shook her helmeted head at the Krogan. "Nah. Looks like she wants to stay with us. Thanks anyways." She growled.

The Krogan just laughed. "Not an option Human. Saren wants her. And Saren gets what he wants, this was said with a tinge of bitterness. He turned to his squad "Kill them. Spare the Asari if you can. If not doesn't matter." With a bellow he wheeled and levelled his gun at the team defending her. "Defend the doctor. Fall back." Cried the commander the Shotgun boomed but was largely dissipated by a biotic field thrown up by his opposite number. The Squad split up once she was secured behind the support column, with the Turian "Garrus" she heard him called. She cowered as a blast took a chunk out of it.

The rest of the squad assaulted the Geth protecting the Krogans flanks. But Apparently the Geth were more challenging in close quarters than expected because the Commander soon became isolated from the rest of the group. Alone with the Enemy leader. She peppered him with rounds from her assault rifle and the Beast bellowed as a handful pierced his armor. He charged her over a thousand pounds of enraged Krogan. The Commander dove to the side but got caught by a backswing. She spun through the air her rifle going flying.

She struggled to her feet and the Krogan lunged and grabbed her by her breastplate. He drew back his fist to deliver what undoubtedly would be a vicious blow. The Human arm lashed out striking the Krogan about the neck. The Krogan paused looking almost confused for a moment then blood began to well up from wounds that opened around his throat. Liara spotted a square bladed kukri knife in the commanders hands an empty sheath for it at her shoulder. She must have grabbed for when the Krogan rushed her.

A krogan while incredibly tough needs blood like any animal and his was draining away rapidly. He dropped the commander and collapsed in a heap trying to plug the holes with his hands. The Commander rushed to pickup her rifle which she rapidly redirected on the Geth harassing her squad. By the time they were dispatched the Krogan had stopped struggling and lay still in a pool of blood. Liara felt vaguely nauseous.

"Come on let get out of here before more of them arrive." She hadn't notice but the Turain protected her had risen to his feet and offered her a hand. She reached out and hauled herself to her feet. Garrus's mouth opened to say something but was interrupted by a rumble and a gust of hot air. He looked over the edge of the platform and down the shaft. "Uhhh…. Shepard." **_Shepard. That's the commanders name? _**She wondered briefly. "We've got lava coming up fast. Liara noticed an orange glow rapidly filtering into the room. Shepard must have looked over the edge too because she gasped audibly. "Ok everyone. Time to run you first doctor." Liara hurried to comply she had no desire to be cooked. As they ran the Lava began to "lap" at the edges of the platform. hot gasses making the air painful to breath.

Liara wasn't sure they were going to make it they almost didn't judging from the amount of shaking the mountain was doing as the made it out into the open air. She heaved an exultant breath drinking in the fresh air. She looked up and noticed a ship drifting into position above them a vehicle secured to a crane winch being lifted into its open bay. "That her the Normandy" came the panting voice of the Commander behind her. "Welcome aboard. Miss T'soni."

Authors Note:

As always send me any advice you have. I'm still looking for a beta-reader and hey I have a quick question for you lot. Would you like John to become a more permanent member of the cast? Just looking for some opinions.

-As ever Rhys Thornbery


	9. Chapter 9: Biotic Extremists

Chapter 9: Biotics

Once she and the her team got checked out by the doctor and her medic, and she had filed a basic report. Jenn ordered everyone in her merry band of misfit commandos to gather in the ships comm room for debriefing she had guided the Asari doctor up herself. Once she had everyone sat down around the conference table in the circular room she began the debriefing. Of course the moment she called the session to order Joker felt the need to butt in over the comm. "Too close Commander. Ten more seconds and we would'a been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanos. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference" He sniped sarcastically from the safety of the cockpit. Ashley and Kaidan were shaking the head ruefully. Their newest member seemed less inclined to take his taunting in stride.

"We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes." She cried indignantly. Jenn could tell she didn't really understand. "He does it to ease the tension. It's a coping mechanism." Jenn explained, defending Joker. "Besides, he just pulled our asses literally out of the fire. He's earned a bad joke or two."

The Asari tilted her head quizzically at her examining her in detail. Eventually she spoke "I see, it must be a human thing. Something I wasn't aware of, I have not had as much experience working with your species as some Commander. But I am grateful to you, you saved my life back there, both from the Geth and the Volcano." Ashley leaned forward in her seat propping her elbows on the table. "What does Saren want with you?" She asked "Do you know anything about the conduit?"

"Only that it, whatever "it" is, is somehow linked to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the last fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them." She explained. Jenn looked the Asari up and down. "Just how old are you exactly?" She asked The Asari shifted uncomfortably "I hate to admit it but I am only one hundred and six." There was a bark of laughter from across the table Ashley leaned back in her chair again. "Damn, I hope I look that good when I'm your age." She chuckled.

The Asaris cheek flushed a violet shade. "A century may seem like a long time to a short lived species such as yours. But among the Asari, I am consider little more than a child." She shrugged in mild irritation. "That is part of the reason my research has not received much attention. Because of my youth other Asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories about what happened to the Protheans."

"I have some ideas about what might have happened to them." suggested Jenn. The Asari shook her pretty head irritably. "With all due respect Commander, I have heard every theory out there. The problem lies with finding enough evidence to support such theories. The Protheans left remarkably little behind. It is almost like someone did not want the mystery solved. Like someone came along after and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But that in and of itself is not the interesting part. According to my research the Protheans were not the first such Civilization to vanish. This kind of extinction event has happened before.

"Where'd you come up with your theory? I Thought there wasn't any evidence?" Liara shrugged. "Like I said I've been working at this for fifty years. I've been collecting scraps of information all that time. You look at these scraps long enough and a pattern begins to emerge. It is difficult to prove to someone else. I cannot point to on specific piece of evidence to prove my case." She admitted. "Its more a feeling derived from studying the subject for so long. But one day I will prove it. There were others before the Protheans, who vanished just like them."

"If the Protheans weren't the first can you tell me who was?" Asked Jenn interested. Liara shook her head sadly. "I do not know. As there is little evidence left of the Protheans there is even less of those who came before. I know I am right but I cannot prove it. Each time a great civilization rises it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins remain."

She continued. "The Protheans rose up from a single unknown world and built a civilization that spanned the galaxy. But even they climbed atop the remains of those who were before them." She shook her head in astonishment "Their greatest achievements, the mass relays and the citadel, are built upon the principles they learned form these earlier peoples. And then like all others we have found traces of before them. They suddenly disappeared. I have dedicated my life to finding out why." She declared proudly.

Jenn figured she'd probed the doctors knowledge long enough. "From what we here have been able to discover Doctor, they were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers." Doctor T'soni blinked surprise. "The… The Reapers? But I have never heard of…. How do you know this! What evidence do you have." She leaned forward eagerly. "

"Have you heard of Eden Prime? A Human colony in the traverse?" The Asari Nodded "The colony was attacked by Saren after we unearthed a Prothean beacon there. It burned a vision into my brain. I'm still kinda trying to figure out what it means."

The Doctor instead of being skeptical appeared to consider that. "Visions? Yes… that makes sense. Prothean technology was quite commonly designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding intact examples is difficult, however. No wonder Saren and his Geth attacked Eden Prime. The chance to capture a working Prothean Beacon would be worth a great deal of risk. However from what i know of such technology it was designed to interact with Prothean physiology. Anything you received from it would likely have been unclear or confused."

She considered the Commander in new light "I am amazed you could make any sense of it at all. A lesser mind likely would have been destroyed by such a process. You must be remarkably strong willed Commander." Shepard saw Kaidan shift in his chair irritation for once clouding his features. "You know this isn't helping us find Saren, or the conduit." he rubbed at his temples. "Of course, you are right." replied the doctor meekly. "Unfortunately I do not believe I have any information that could help you find this conduit or Saren."

**_We could probably use someone who had at least some insight into the Protheans. _**"I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture. But I figure we'd do a lot better bringing someone like you along." Liara dipped her head deferentially. "Thank you Commander. Saren could come after me again, your ship would likely be the safest place for me. My knowledge of the Protheans might be useful to you later."

Wrex spoke up for the first time. "And her Biotic could come in handy when fighting starts." Jenn looked askance at the doctor. In the fighting on the rum the doctor hadn't engaged the Geth or the Krogan. "I have had University level education in my bionics and mother insisted I get at least basic training with the commandos. But I'm not sure how much help i can be in a battle." Jenn nodded understanding. "We'll get you sorted out. Still its good to have you on the team Liara."

The woman wobbled a little in place "Im sorry Commander, Im just feeling a little light headed right now."

"When was the last time you ate? Or slept?" Asked Kaidan some of his usual mood reasserting itself. "Doctor Chakwas should Check you out." The Doctor protested not wanting to be a burden. "Its probably just exhaustion coupled with all the excitement. I just need time to process is all."

"Still it couldn't hurt to be looked over by a professional. Beside it'll give you time to think things over. Come on." Jenn motioned the Doctor to stand. She turned to the rest of the team "The rest of you, dismissed."

"Kaidan you mind taking Doctor T'soni down for me. I've got an incoming call from Joker." Jenn asked seeing a light flashing on her comm. Kaidan nodded taking the wobbly Asari by the elbow. "Mission reports filed Commander. You want me to patch you through to the Council." Joker asked. Jenn hesitated for a moment. Part of her balked at having to report to that pack, but she figured it would be better to keep them happy. "Alright Joker patch them through she said as the last of her team filed out.

The Comm rooms primary holo array heated and the three councillors materialized in front of her. "We've received the report Commander, we understand Doctor T'soni is on the Normandy?" Asked the Asari councillor. "And we assume your taking the necessary security precautions?" asked/demanded the Turian councillor. "Liara's Thrown in on our side councillors. The Geth were trying to kill her." She stated simply.

"Benezia would never allow Saren to kill her daughter." Protested the Asari. The Salarian merely shrugged. "Maybe she doesn't know."

"Or maybe we don't know her." Interjected the Turian. "We never expected her to turn traitor did we?" Again the Salarian councillor shrugged noncommittally. "At least the mission was a success."

"Apart from the destruction of a major Prothean ruin. Was that really necessary Commander?" The Turian councillor replied angrily, apparently itching for a fight. Jenn did her best to ignore his tone. "The Geth were crawling all over that ruin. We were lucky to merely make it out alive." The Salarian for once backed her up. "Of course Commander. The mission must always come first."

"Councillors, if you have any additional leads on Saren….." Jenn Probed. "Now would be a good time."

"Indeed. We will let you know if anything further develops in regard to Feros or Noveria. Good luck Commander. Remember we are all counting on you." Said the Asari Councillor abruptly ending the call. Jenn just shook her head. Unimpressed thus far by the Galaxy's elected representatives.

Half an hour later Shepard found herself talking with a reinvigorated Dr.T'soni. " You look much better. How are you feeling?" The Doctor had lost some of the greyish cast to her skin and she was no longer swaying. "Doctor Chakwas assures me I am going to be fine. I was impressed with her knowledge of Asari Physiology." She acknowledged. "Your in good hands with her. She always knows what she's doing."

"I never properly thanked you for before Commander, if you hadn't shown up…." She trailed off. "Just glad we got there in time. I prefer my Asari not full of holes." The Doctor chuckled dryly. "As do I. I know you took a chance brining me aboard this ship. I have seen the way some of your crew look at me. They do not trust me. But I am not like Benezia. I will do what I can to help you stop Saren." Jenn indicated that she believed her. "It means a lot that you offer your trust Commander."

"If we have to face your mother are you prepared for the consequences?" She asked. The woman looked sad. "I have resigned myself to the possibilities Commander. However I still hold out hope she can be saved."

"Just let me know if you need anything, or if anyones giving you trouble." The Asari nodded. "I will don't worry Commander." She assured. Shepard let herself back out of the Medbay and into the mess hall where she saw a certain giant reptile sitting off by himself. Wrex noticed her as she approached. He delicately lowered the ladle he was forced to use as a spoon, it disappeared into the crockpot he was using as a bowl. He tilted his head at the space around them.

"Nice Ship you've got Shepard. Should have mentioned that earlier. Can I do anything for you?" He idly fished for the lost utensil with a finger. "You got a story Wrex. I've been trying to figure you out since you came aboard but I haven't come up with much." He chuckled a low rumble like thunder in the distance. "There's no story Shepard. Should ask the Quarian if you want stories." She pretended her best puppy dog eyes at him. "Aw come on to even a little one? You Krogan live for centuries. You must have at least one story."

The big guy just snorted. "There was this one time the Turians almost wiped out our entire race." He said in what must have been the Krogan equivalent of a sarcastic singsong. " That was fun." **_Ah so we just dived face first into the genophage eh? _**"Ah yeah. I heard about that. You know we didn't get along so well with them at first either." He just shook his head. "It's not the same."

"I know that Wrex. They didn't just beat you down when you rose up, they bio-bombed you to make sure it never happened again. Can't have enough kids to grow your population right. I simply meant that you aren't the only ones who have fallen on the Turian's bad side. We Humans are probably lucky they didn't do the same to us. I was just making conversation Wrex. Not trying to upset you."

The Krogan leaned back and sighed. "You know more 'bout our situation than most Shepard, I'll give you that. Your peoples ignorance doesn't upset me. As for my people, I gave up on them long ago. The Genophage may be what infected us but it's not whats killing us."

"Just how bad is it? I hear stories of course but nothin' concrete from Tuchanka that I ever hear about. Your people really dying off?" The Krogan nodded his head. "We certainly ain't getting any stronger. Were too spread out you see." He gestured with his hands indicating great size or distance. "Nobody seems to be interested in staying in our own system. We don't colonize Shepard. Were warriors, we want to fight. We hire ourselves out as mercenaries, and most of us never make it home."

"Can you tell me anything more about the Genophage. I never hear much about it. Especially from the other races." Jenn noted. Wrex shook his head "The Salarians would know most. They made the damn thing. All "I" can tell you is that it makes breeding nearly impossible. Thousands of our young die stillborn. Most never get that far. Every Krogan is infected. Every one of us, and no ones looking to find a cure."

Jenn blinked surprise. "Not even the Krogan?" "When was the last time you saw a Krogan Scientist?" Wrex asked. "Ask most of us if he'd rather find a cure or fight for credits? he'll choose fighting everytime." Jenn shook her head sadly for the big guy. Clearly it bothered him deeply.

"I'm sorry if I dug into anything painful…." Wrex just swung his head back and forth. "Not your fault Shepard and like I said I've given up a long time ago." Jenn didn't believe that not considering the way he'd taken her probing. But nothing could be gained by picking at the wound right now. "So long Wrex. Enjoy your meal." This was said as Wrex finally managed to hook the big spoon back out of the slop. He nodded absently "Shepard."

It was a few hours later while She was cleaning her gun down in the Cargohold that the final member of here team caught up with her. Garrus sidled up to her while she fiddled with a bit of recoil damper. "I meant to thank you for inviting me aboard Commander. I had a feeling that working for a Spectre would be better than working in Csec." Jenn glanced up at him as she worked the piece a couple time to make sure it worked right. "Oh yeah? You worked with a Spectre before?"

"Well no." he admitted. "Spectres make their own rules Your free to handle things your way. In Csec you nearly drown in red tape. The paper pushers are alway on your back."

Jenn considered this for a moment. "For the most part those rules are there for a reason, can't have cops going rogue." Garrus didn't seem to agree "maybe, but sometimes it feels like those rules are only there to stop you from actually doing your work. If I'm working to take down a suspect it shouldn't matter how I do it so long as I do it right? Csec only want things done there way. Protocol first, justice can hang." he sighed "part of the reason Im glad to be leaving them."

"You just quit because you don't like the way they do business." She slid the component back into it's housing. He shook his head. "there's more to it than that. Didn't start out bad. But as you rise in rank more and more red tape falls around your shoulders. Csec's handling of Saren was typical. I just couldn't take that anymore. I hated leaving but I just had too you know?"

"I hope you find you made the right choice, would hate for you to regret it later." Garrus nodded in agreement "That's part of the reason I followed you. Needed to get off the citadel see how things are run in places other than C-sec. Either way I plan to make the most of this."

"So long as we conduct ourselves ethically, understood?" Shepard looked him in the eye. He nodded "And I would never suggest we do it differently."

"Then we understand each other."she slotted her rifle back into the rack. "If I may ask, why'd you want to be a C-sec officer in the first place?"

"Good question. Several reasons I guess. Probably the same as most officers. Wanted to fight injustice, wanted to help people. Guess father had something to do with it too." he admitted. "C-sec, one of the best, grew up hearing about his exploits, and seeing vids after a big arrest. He… Hasn't taken my resignation well."

"He's not impressed you're going after Saren?" She asked as she made her way over to the Mako hefting a tool box. "No. He's a C-sec man to the bone. Do things right or don't do them at all he says. He thinks i'm being to rash and impatient. He's worried i'll turn out just like Saren." he said ruefully. "he essentially talked me out of trying out for the Spectres when I was younger for the same reasons."

"You were asked to be a Spectre?" Jenn asked.

"No, but I was targeted as a possible candidate. Me along with about a thousand other Turian military Candidates back during my mandatory service. I could have received special training, but Dad didn't like it. He despises the Spectres. Hates the idea of anyone having unlimited power, with no accountability. He wouldn't like you Commander."

Jenn just chuckled. "I'm used to that. Suppose I can understand his concern in some ways. I mean look at Saren?" She ducked under one of the Tanks wheel wells to examine one of the axles. Garrus seemed surprised. "Sarens not gonna play by our rules, by C-sec rules. You want to nail someone like Saren you need someone not restricted by policy."

Shepard disagreed "Just because I can ignore the rules doesn't mean I should. I can't risk stooping to Sarens level. Neither can you Garrus. Not if you want to be able to look yourself in the mirror" She raised a brow at him.

He appeared to consider this his brow plates shuffling. "I know what you mean Commander and I promise to keep it in mind."

The intercom buzzed and there was a clang as Jenn bumped her head on the inside of the wheel well. "Commander. Got a message coming in for you from Alliance Brass. where'd you like it patched?" This was from Joker. Who was currently on rotation, on the bridge.

"Comm room Joker. I'll be right up." She put down the tool box beside the tire. "Garrus you know anything about repairing vehicles?" He nodded indicating he did. "The second pair axle felt off during the mission today. You mind taking a look at it. I'd fix it myself but I've gotta take this." He said he would and she jogged off up the lift and stairs into the comm room.

"Joker. Patch me in. The rooms holo projector heated for second time that day this time resolving into the image of Admiral Steven Hackett head of the Alliance Fifth fleet. Her superior officer within the Alliance chain of command.

She saluted and he returned it briskly. He was a man of perhaps fifty years greying before his time and well scarred from the myriad of engagements he had fought in his lifetime. Caucasian and thoroughly grey with ice blue eyes he was intimidating. "Commander, we've got a situation that requires your expertise. A group of extremists have kidnapped the chairman of the parliament subcommittee studying biotics and other trans-humans. However during the escape their freighter was damaged and is now floating dead in space. You're the closest N7 asset and we'd like you to get in there and take them down."

Jenn was serious. "What kind of resistance should I expect?"

"The biotics were seen loading equipment into the freighter, expect traps and combat drones."

"Any idea what there demands are so far? What are they asking for?"

"They're L2's, Commander, still suffering major side effects from the implants. The Committee put down a bill giving reparations to L2 biotics apparently they want the chairman to reconsider."

"Priority on the chairman?" She had to ask, though she could guess the answer.

"Saving him would be my preference, but we must make it clear that these kinds of tactics don't work ." He clarified."I appreciate you taking the time, Commander. I'll be sending you the last known coordinates of the freighter. Good luck, Fifth Fleet out."

She saluted him one last time as his image faded out again. "Joker? How long to get us to the Farinata system in Hades Gamma?" She asked over the comm.

"Day and a half Commander if I push it.

"Get us there." ordered Jenn.

Shepard reflected on just how much she hated hostile boardings. **_I ^%*&()# hate hostile boardings. Simply saying how much I hate them isn't enough._** Boardings were never fun at the best of times but when the enemy knew you were coming it was many times worse. They booby-trapped hallways, set up ambushes in cargo holds and sometimes if they were really crazy vent whole compartments to space. Exposure to vacuum really didnt do a persons complexion any good. **_They tend to get grey and bruised looking._**

Thus far the boarding had proceeded swimmingly. The Normandy had approached the crippled vessel and they had cut a hole through the hull into one of the forward cargo bays. The MSV Ontario was a Kowloon light conveyor, a heavily standardized model of ship. An engine compartment holding a pair He3 engines, fuel tanks and a F.T.L Drive core. A central hull which was primarily made up of access corridors and ventilation ducts, to which the ships six cargo holds could be affixed. A thin up deck above the primary hull which house life support and crew quarters. And finally the officers quarters machine room, med lab and cockpit made up the ships forward most Section. As promised the Ontario's engine compartment was heavily damaged and two of its rear most cargo bays were open to space.

They had inserted and rapidly made their way past what passed for security among amateurs. Apparently the majority of the Biotics aboard hadn't known how to wire up motion detectors or cameras. They ran into problem when they closed on the captains quarters were intel had the Chairman located. Despite the lax security up to this point apparently not everyone aboard was an incompetent. The Insurgents senior officers were sticking close to their prize, staying in the room with him. On top of this they had posted a pair of there more elite members as guards on the rooms only entrance. **_In short theres no bleedin' way I'm getting into that room unseen. Let alone out again with some fat schlub of a politician. _**She glanced over at her small strike team which were huddled next to her. Kaidan shook his head up seeing her worm cameras feed. He agreed no way to sneak in.

**_Oki Doki_** **_time to do this the hard way._** She tumbled a pair of concussor rounds into the under barrel launcher on her rifle. **_No way we can do this quiet. So instead lets do it loud and fast._** She signalled the team to prepare to storm the room. She counted down from three, and then leaned out around the corner.

The most alert of the guard pair only had a moment before a pair of rounds streaked across the room and exploded loudly in his face. The wave of compressed air rippled through the hallways undoubtedly alerting everyone on the ship. So close to the blast Jenn was glad her polycarbonfiber helmet came equipped with sound dampers which slumped down protectively over her ear when they anticipated anything over 120 decibels. The team bolted forward stepping over the blinded and deaf guards slamming through the door to the quarters.

Most of those inside were caught trying to rise from there chairs but again that luck didn't hold. One, probably the leader, had already pulled and levelled his gun at the Chairmans head by the time they were through the door. He jerked the hostage up to his feet to keep him more securely between him and the invaders.

"You see how it is!" he cried "You send a thousand letters and nobody pays you any mind. But you take a hostage and they all come running. Violence is clearly the only thing the Alliance understands." The other hostiles had levelled there weapons but that wasn't what caught Shepard's attention the most. It was the small gasp of recognition from her squad mate. "Vaz?" Kaidan breathed.

The terrorists eyes darted to the man over Shepard shoulder. His eyes squinted for a moment then recognition lit his eyes. "Kaidan?" Jenn hoped her ace in the hole hadn't just exploded in her hand. "You two know each other?"

Kaidan nodded but didn't lower his rifle. "Vasily Gregorivich we went to BAaT together." He stated simply.

Vaz was shaking his head, and didn't lower his gun either. "Never figured you for an Alliance stooge Alenko.

"And I never figured you for a terrorist."

"How can you side with them surely you still suffer as we do? We have nothing to live for. The pain has taken it all away." Demanded the insurgent.

"I can side with them because you shot your way into a government building and kidnapped a duly elected representative of state." Countered Alenko calmly. "What makes you think this kind of idiocy helps anyone."

"It certainly won't hurt. The hope of reparations is all most of us had to hold on to! And this bastard comes along and throws it all away!" He shoved the bound man aggressively. The man wailed behind his gag.

"You had your chance to talk Mr. Chairman. Many L2's are crippled now, the truth was right in front of you and still you voted against reparations."

"He's the only one who can turn this thing around for you now Mr. Gregorivich. Do you think who ever it is that replaces him is going to be the least bit sympathetic to your cause after you slaughtered their predecessor?" Jen argued.

Kaidan nodded vigorously. following her train of thought. "Come on Vas. With burns you still have a chance to get your agenda pushed, and come out of this alive. Without him…" He let that statement dangle.

"Even if he agrees to take another look at the reparations request do you really think we can trust him to not burn us like he did before?" asked Vas belligerently.

"Come on Vas you know me I may not trust burns either but I trust the Commander. She has the clout and evidence to make sure the chairman follows through." Pleaded Kaidan

"How can she do that if she's just a soldier. Soldiers don't direct the politicians Kaidan." He protested. He followers were getting tense they had to end this quick, before it got anymore out of hand. "They'll listen to her. This is Commander Shepard. The first human Spectre, surely even you've heard about that."

The man's eyes widened in recognition and darted to her face. She smiled grimly at him. "So i'm just supposed to take your promise of fixing this thing? And our freedom?" He asked.

"I can't promise you freedom Vasily. You've gone to far for that now. But I can promise that Burns will take another look. Right Burns?" She asked the man who nodded vigorously. "Why don't we hear him say it. Maybe that'll help?" She indicated his gag. Vas considered for a moment then yanked the gag down. The Chairman began babbling almost immediately.

"I promise. I've seen so much over the last couple days. Seen what L2's suffer. The reparations will come, If that helps." he begged.

Vas looked to the gathering crowd of his fellows trying to gauge their reactions. Some were shaking visibly from the side effects of the implants. Many shrugged. But one to his right spoke up. "Not looking to die today Vas. You never know maybe this time something'll come of it?" She said.

Vas nodded and considered for a moment. "Alright. No killing today. We surrender." He tossed his gun to the floor. The other hesitated only briefly before following suit. Vas bent down and sliced the bonds around the chairmans wrists. The man promptly unfolded and stood.

"Thank you Commander. I can't tell you how relieved I am that we resolved this issue without violence." He rubbed absently at his wrists watching the insurgents being cuffed around him. "I meant what I said earlier, you know. I will see to it that these people get reparations. Regardless of your promise to ensure that I do so. I saw a woman couldn't have been more than twenty collapse and seize for half an hour straight, right over there." he nodded to the corner of the room. "My Daughter suffers from epilepsy. I wouldn't wish that kind of suffering on anyone."

"I'm Glad to see your a man of your word Mr. Burns." He smiled thinly. "If I may ask when can we expect to get home Commander?" He asked politlely.

"I'll be calling the Fifth Fleet as soon as I return to the ship. Assuming they send the nearest ship the S.S.V Yellow Knife, a Cruiser, they should arrive within twenty-four hours of my report. After that? Perhaps a day to return to Arcturus?" He nodded happily, even the prospect of only two more days seeming pleasant after the last three or so he had experienced.

They exchanged pleasantries she moved off to where Kaidan was speaking with a now bound and sitting Vas. "So you never heard from any of the others once you left?" He asked Kaidan with interest. "Not even Rahna?" Kaidan just shook his head.

"You'd be proud of her." Offered Vas. "She didn't end up like the rest of us. Adapted relatively well to the implants. Heard she's teaching the students at Grissom now." Kaidan nodded, but stayed silent. Vas gazed up into the marines face reading something Shepard couldn't see. "Still aren't talking to each other eh?" The erstwhile insurgent snorted. "Women, I swear ill never understand them."

"Rahna? She the one you mentioned before right?" Shepard asked aloud as she sidled up to them.

Alenko looked sidelong at her. "Don't really want to talk about it ma'am. At least not right now?"

Shepard understood, some stuff wasn't meant to be discussed in public. "Okay. Then how 'bout you call up our relief from the Normandy and report we have everyone secured? Lets get off this boat." She said then turned to the prisoner. "And how 'bout you tell me where you got the gear for an operation like this." The prisoner thought about that for a moment then shrugged "sure".

Shepard blinked surprise. "What, just like that?"

He nodded. "Yup, got what I was after. Besides it's not as if I'm particularly fond of pirates."

"Pirates. You bought your arms from pirates?" She asked vexed. He hummed an affirmative. "Yeah. She was a nasty piece of work too. Asari, thought a fellow biotic might sympathize you know?" He stated then shifted on his backside "She didn't give a damn about us. Just wanted her wad of creds." Jenn looked over at Kaidan where he talked with someone on the Normandy. "You know where we can find this pirate?"

He waggled his head "Maybe. Can't say for certain she's still there of course. But I can tell you where we met before."

**_Think I know where our next missions gonna be. _**"Where?" She asked.

"Sharjila, Not but a system away."

Author's note:

As alway's let me know if theres anything you guys think I need to fix. Would appreciate any advice I can get. If anyone would like to be my Beta-Reader Please let me know. Oh and one question before I go. anyone have opinions on how I should handle Virmire? i'm in the planning phase for it.

-Sincerely Rhys Thornbery


	10. Chapter 10: Interstellar

**Chapter 10: Interstellar**

Jenn had reported the missions success as soon as the relief crew came aboard. Hackett was glad that she was still willing to do services for the Alliance despite her new Council obligations. He had been Concerned about the Pirates involvement and had as expected ordered the Normandy To Intervene.

Following the arrival of the SSV Yellow Knife the expected twenty-four hours later, Jennifer Shepard had ordered the prisoner shifted into the significantly larger ships brigs. Something which the Normandy lacked entirely. They were loaded aboard and their contraband confiscated. At which point the Normandy led to pursue their own mission.

At Sarjilla a small mostly desolate planet, they had founded the pirate at small pile of buildings and prefabs centred around a Landed Pirate Frigate, All of which constituted the ramshackle fortress. They had hailed the Pirate base, demanding in the name of both the Alliance and Citadel Authority.

The response message had been a colourful string of Asari curses, and the Asari equivalent of flipping the bird. The Pirate Powered up her ship and attempted to flee. The Ship was frankly a heap of garbage but it still sported powerful engines. It surged up into low atmosphere making break for it. Against any other ship that might have worked. Normandy under the care of Joker proved to be exceptional. They had no difficulty dogging the fleeing Pirate who after getting peppered with mass driver fire periodically eventually decided to turn and fight. This had turned out to be a serious mistake.

The Normandy up until that point had been willing to hound them until they surrendered. Turning and fighting meant that they need to up the ante. No Longer were they chipping at Kinetic barriers and engines when they were exposed. Now this was serious close in knife fight with another ship. Whoever piloted the Pirate ship was a joke. Joker had flown the Normandy in circles around the less nimble opponent tear away at her shields with mass accelerator rounds and GARDIAN point defence lasers. In the end as the enemies shields fell the Normandy had arched around and fired a burst right through a section amidship holing it all the way through. The Compartment vented explosively. Shepard at the time had no idea what that compartment had housed but whatever it was must have been important because the ship engines sputtered and died and the Pirate Captain hailed them spitting wild threats and swearing vengeance. She ordered Joker to disable the now drifting ships guns. She had order Kaidan to take Ashley and lead the entirety of the ship's Marine detachment aboard the enemy vessel.

They had with difficulty secured the entire Ship within half an hour. What ever Pirates hadn't been killed by the ship to ship combat were successfully captured, including the very angry little Asari Captain. Upon inspection the team discovered the ship boasted a cargo of Weapons, Asari artefacts in the form of a famous Matriarchs writings, and a hold full of slaves. Shepard had ordered those poor enslaved freed immediately. She would have nightmares of Mindior again that night.

Upon reporting mission completion Hackett had Ordered the S.S.V Yellow Knife Ontario still under tow, and its new friend the S.S.V Heracles a tug/reclamation vessel to pick up the prisoners from this missions well and haul away the damaged pirate ship.

Upon clearing the ship of cargo the Captain of the Yellow Knife asked if she wanted a Souvenir of her first commands, first pirate kill. Upon deliberation she had decided on the Asari matriarchs writings.

A Job well done and so this was how, with the Yellow knife and Hercules burning away with their new prizes, Jenn found herself hauling a pile of Matriarchs writings down to her room. She dumped them on her desk for later and headed back out into the mess hall cracking her back as she went. She headed to the mess attendant who slopped, big surprise, grits on her plate. She grimaced at them grabbed a cup of cranberry juice and turned to find a seat. She spotted a familiar face sat yet again at one of the tables. This time nursing a big steaming mug of some that smell suspiciously like hot chocolate. **_Yup theres the whipped cream on top. _**"You mind if I sit here?" She asked Wrex. He sucked a bit of his drink up the straw and nodded to her to take the seat. She pulled out the very uncomfortable mess chair and flopped down into it after depositing her food tray on the table. She heaved a sigh.

"So… hot chocolate?" She asked rubbing at her eyes. He chuckled in response and took another gulp from his oversized mug. "Yup. Best damn thing humans ever invented." He asserted. He looked a her out of one gimlet eye. "You tired?" She nodded and yawned. "Can understand that. Been burning it at both ends catching some traction on Saren." He growled.

"Yeah. He's good. One of the best. But I'm gonna show him who's better." Jenn said. Wrex misunderstood and shook his head. "Good? He's rotten."

"To the core. Knew that as soon as I met him." Jenn blinked surprise at him. "Didn't know you had met him Wrex. Don't you think thats something I should'a known?" She asked. He just shrugged. "Would have if I thought it were important."

"Still think I'd like to hear the story." Jenn decided. He bobbed his head, took another sip of his drink. "This was a while ago understand? A bunch of Mercs were bragging about a job they had landed out near the edges of the Terminus systems. Claimed the job paid well, and the boss was never around to ride them. Said he was looking for more men too. Sounded like a good gig. So I checked it out."

"Saren was openly recruiting mercs? Thats not exactly like him." Jenn noted. Wrex shook his head. "It wasn't that open, and he only showed his face once." He said with emphasis. "We'd been raiding ship for months, when we took down this massive cargo freighter, our biggest haul yet. I'll be honest it was basically piracy, but there you go."

He pondered for a moment. "I was sent aboard. Searching bodies for valuables, the thought was maybe we could make a few extra credits. Thats when I saw him."

"Why was Saren after the ship?" Jenn asked leaning back in her chair after taking a couple bites of awful food. "Don't know what he wanted." Wrex admitted "He was just moving through the ship, watching. Couple of the Mercs called him by name. But he never spoke to them, never spoke to anyone."

For the first time since Shepard had met him Wrex sounded cautious, shivered a little. "I had a really bad feeling about him. I've only ever felt like that once before, on sacred ground on Tuchanka." he paused. "I got the hell out. Didn't even wait to get paid."

"What kind of Cargo were they hauling? What was Saren after?"

"Don't know. All I saw on that ship were food and medical supplies. Nothing to warrant the kind of Assault Saren had us launch." He shook his head in bewilderment "Oh there were so basic weapons, but nothing big. If there was anything of value on that ship I didn't see it. Part of the reason I didn't mention this sooner."

"Whose ship was it?" Shepard asked brow furrowing.

"It was a Volus trading vessel headed to Omega. Big one, lots of guards, but they were no match for us." He stated simply.

"That is the only time you saw him?"

Wrex sighed. "Yeah, unique looking for a Turian, those implants he's got all over his face. Still didn't even know who he was." He considered pensively "Probably still wouldn't if I hadn't joined up with you. But my instincts were right." He growled. "Every other Merc on that Mission turned up dead within a week, every damn one." he took a long final draw on his drink and thumped it down.

Jenn considered his story and decided to take it at face value "Pirate life doesn't exactly sound like you. You're a bounty hunter now right? Opposite side of the law, why'd you become a mercenary?"

"Lots of reasons." Wrex replied evasively. She pressed him. "Such as?"

He grumbled under his breath. "Such as I needed to get out of our system, I needed to eat, I needed to survive." He glared at the probing questions.

"From what I hear Tuchanka's in rough shape. Why not stay, try to help your people." Shepard pushed relentlessly.

"I tried to help,busted my hump doing it too, that's why I had to leave."

Jenn didn't understand "What happend?"

"I was betrayed. I was part of a small tribe. We were trying to restore order after the rebellions. But the other tribes were against us. They followed Jarod one of the few warlords who survived the war against the Turians, but he was old and so were his ideas. He wanted us to continue the war. Fight Turians, Salarians, each other. Didn't matter who to him. So long as we fought, he felt it gave us purpose."

"And what did you want?"

He barked a bitter laugh. "I just wanted him to shut up. To stop his ranting, to stop leading the tribes to their death. But he just couldn't understand that things had changed. We didn't have the numbers to go to war, and even if we did the genophage made sure we couldn't replenish our numbers fast enough."

"I told them to forget about war. We needed to focus on breeding, at least for one generation." He paused deciding how to proceed. "For a while we were getting through. Some of the tribes started coming around."

Jenn could see where the story was starting to head. "I take it the warlord didn't appreciate that?"

"No. He most certainly did not. He arranged what we refer to as a crush among the tribes. A meeting on neutral ground. He wanted to talk. We met at a place called the hollows, near the graves of our ancestors. The skulls of our dead laid bare to remind us where we come from and where we go. As sacred as any Krogan place can be. Violence is forbidden there."

Jenn had a sinking feeling. "It sounds like a trap, But you must have suspected as much."

He nodded sadly. "I did, remember that feeling I described when I saw Saren. This is the only other time I felt like that. But it was my Father who was inviting me to the crush, and there are some laws that even we hold sacred."

"Jarod was your father I take it?" Shepard asked understanding the sadness in Wrex's demeanour. "He was, until that day. We talked but we didn't get anywhere. When it was clear that I wouldn't join him, he gave the signal. His soldiers leaped from the graves of our ancestors like Krogan undead. Those that were loyal to me died quickly."

"I escaped with my life. But not before I was forced to sink my dagger deep into my fathers chest. That is why I left, and it's why i'll never go back."

"You must have family other than your father. Don't you miss them?" She asked.

Wrex just chuckled "You trying to make me cry Shepard? I've got some unfinished business with my family, but thats about all. They're not exactly family reunion types, you know?"

"What kind of business? The kind that involves you running into a room shotgun blazing or another kind?" He didn't laugh at the small joke. "Before I left I made an oath to my fathers father. I swore I'd recover my families battle armour, which was taken from him following the uprising."

"Something must be special about this armour for it to worth that kind of oath." Jenn observed.

"It's a relic, but it was worn by five generations of my family before the war. Rightfully its mine now. Originally it was taken by the Turian military. We weren't allowed arms or armour after the war. Now? Its in the hands of Tonn Atcus. A Turian scumbag who likes to collect relics from the war. He's made millions selling Krogan artifacts which were stolen from my people. He's got several bases where he stores his goods. Like fortresses, all heavily guarded. I just don't know which base has my families armour otherwise i'd have gone after it by now, fortress or no."

Jenn thought about it, considering the dour behemoth across from her, sipping at hot chocolate like a little boy. "you know…" she started "We could take a look into those bases if you're willing to pass along any intel you have on them." She offered.

Wrex looked surprised at her willingness to help. "If your serious I'll give you everything I have on him. Let me know if your intel monkeys turn up anything though. I want to be there when you find this scum bag. He's the sort who gets warm fuzzes at the thought of the way his people subjugated the Krogan."

"Deal. I'll forward the info to Naval Intelligence see what we can find." She shook his hand and stretched. She input the info he beamed to her omni-tool and got up from her chair. "But on that note I've got to hit the sack. Been a long couple days."

"Sure. and Shepard?" he asked catching her eye as she turned to leave with her now empty dishes. "Thanks." She waved him off and put the used tableware in the dispenser and shuffled off toward her quarters.

It was hours later about halfway through her sleep cycle when she was woken but the announcement from Joker that she had a message coming in from the Human Embassy on the Citadel. He also found time to complain about having to answer the phone in addition to his normal duties. "After all I'm a pilot not a yeoman." He blustered. She concurred but it wouldn't do to let him know that just yet. "Just put the embassy through Joker." She begged.

"Fine, patching you through." The intercom beside her bed buzzed and Anderson and Udina's I.D flashed on the Display. "Normandy here, Commander Shepard speaking. How may we handle your galaxy shifting revelations today?" She asked her arm slung over her eyes as she lay back and listened.

A cautious chuckle resounded over the speaker. "Gonna want to hear this Commander. We've caught a break for your mission." said Anderson. She sat up in bed. " Feros Colony has gone Dark nobodies hard from them in just under Twenty Four Hours."

"Those Geth Patrols we detected skirting their perimeter?" She asked.

"That'd be our guess Commander. Were sending you and another Frigate to reinforce the local garrison. You'll be meeting up with your brothers ship the Leyte Gulf just beyond the Attican Beta Relay in the Hercules system. From there it'll take you roughly three days to reach Feros."

"Understood, Captain. Anything Else?"

This time Udina spoke up. "The Feros colony is privately funded by the Exo Geni Corporation. The Alliance's colonial funds are stretched thin right now with the Eden Prime incident. We'd rather not have to pay to rebuild another colony on top of that. So with that in mind, keep Exo Geni happy." He demanded. It irked Jenn that he referred to Eden Prime as an "Incident" as though thousands of dead colonists were merely another bother to fill his schedule.

"Understood Ambassador." She waited to see if either party were going to add anything further to the discussion. "If theres nothing more I'll set course right away. Shepard out." She cut the comm.

"Joker Set course for Attican Beta's relay system. Look for the Leyte Gulf we've got a colony to save."

**ATTICAN BETA CLUSTER  
HERCULES SYSTEM**

**12 LIGHT MINUTES FROM MASS RELAY**

The Normandy snugged up against the hull of the larger frigate nicely. A slim figure against the more heavily armoured and armed bulk of the Leyte Gulf. As on the citadel seeing the Gulf made her smile. She heard the VI begin pressure equalization in the docking tube and she signalled her ground team to get lined up out of the way of the rest of the bridge crew.

The VI beeped a completion and the doors to the airlock parted. They made there way to the end where she keyed the intercom. "Commander Jennifer Shepard requesting permission to board the Leyte Gulf?"

There was pause as the Ships VI scanned the credentials she held up to the screen as a formality. A familiar voice came over the comm. "X.O Shepard. Permission granted, welcome to the Leyte Gulf." She could hear the smile in Johns voice even before she saw him when the doors opened.

Unlike the Normandy the Leyte Gulf's bridge did not span the length of the deck all the way to the bow. Instead a dedicated security room housed the airlock and connected to the decks primary access hall which several of the ships secondary operations hubs opened onto. It was only past these that the corridor opened onto the bridge. Also unlike the Normandy the Leyte Gulf did not have a forward facing viewport for the pilot and copilots. Instead the Command decks interfaces were arrayed around a central holo-projector/galaxy map. The Pilots steered entirely through there haptic holographic arrays and not by visual. This in addition to the heavier armour they boasted meant that Iwo-Jima class frigates steer less light fighters, as the Normandy did, and more like an old navy fast attack torpedo boat. Nimble enough in their own right but nothing like the Normandy.

It was here around the Galaxy Map where she again met her Brother and his Commanding Officer Captain Benjamin Mueller. A dour looking man of approximately forty who surprised her with a quick smile. "Commander Shepard, a pleasure to finally meet you. Your brother speaks highly of you."

She smiled back "And of you as well Captain." She shook his hand. He gestured aft through set of doors behind the bridge. "Please if you'll follow me we can discuss the mission over lunch. I had the mess hall whip up something a little better than their usual fair. I've even had them prepare something your Dextro DNA crew can stomach." He indicated Garrus and Tali. "Although I must admit Its strange to see so many aliens and know they are crewed aboard an Alliance vessel." He said, though not sounding at all displeased about it. Further points in the man's favour.

She nodded and followed him out of the bridge and down a corridor toward the ships conference room. "I must say, I feel particularly honoured to be the first Captain given to fly wingman to our Spectre." He chattered happily to them as they situated themselves around the table, upon which a wide variety of foods had been placed.

"So I take it then that Anderson and Udina properly briefed you?" She asked. He shrugged. "Actually they delegated that part to someone else. Understandable given the need for expedience getting you here?" He offered indicating the F.T.L stream playing outside the ships window. She could spot the Normandy where it was hooked to the umbilical.

"If this attack is anything like the one on Eden Prime then yes. Expedience is key." She agreed. She watched as here crew began digging into the meal. She herself abstained in order to talk with the Captain and her brother. "So what have you been told about whats going on" she asked.

John spoke "Not much more than we already knew from what little you said the last time you and I met." He gestured to her reminding her of the meeting in the council tower. "Saren a rouge Spectre agent has attacked human colonies. You as the council's first Human Spectre are being sent after him. The only new thing we know is that he has attacked the Colony on Feros and that he apparently has a large number of Geth forces in region. Anything you care to add."

"Only a little though I don't know how much it'll affect your side of the mission. I assume your primary directive is to secure the colony and defend it from attack?" She asked. They nodded in agreement. "Firstly I should tell you that as a result of my primary mission those objectives become secondary at least to me and my crew. This doesn't mean that I intend to abandon the people of the colony" she comforted them. "But it does mean me and mine may be drawn off on our own as the mission demands." She explained. The two nodded comprehension. "The enemies objective as we understand it is to find an ancient device somehow linked to the Prothean extinction. This device known as the conduit, at least as far as we can tell , is what Saren's group believes is responsible for said extinction."

"Any intel on that group." Asked John for his Captain.

She shook her head. "Again not much, they're referred to as the Reapers and appear to be Synthetic in origin. Beyond that… Nothing."

"Alright, your right I don't see how that will play into our current mission just yet, so lets move on to the parts we can anticipate. Firstly insertion." Began Captain Mueller, he tapped silently at some controls in the side of the table and a projection of Feros. "Now from the last transmission from the systems comm buoy a picket of eight enemy frigates and several dozen fighter craft have set up in orbit around the planet. They will in all likelihood attempt to stop us from approaching the planet." Here he glanced up at Jenn who nodded agreement. "As our ships are not equipped to go toe to toe with that many hostiles we will instead punch a hole and rush for the colony planet side. An arrow lit up the display suggesting a route. Once there we will aid the colonists and local garrison with repelling any forces the enemy was able to deploy ground side. This Ship carries approximately twenty marines, and a dozen security trained navy personnel, and four armoured vehicles how about yours?" He asked glancing at her.

"Only seven marines we're a stealth reason frigate not an assault craft. Plus our four security personnel and our Mako? That about sums up our conventional compliment. I will be happy to deploy the rest of my ground team whenever they're not specifically needed elsewhere at least." She waved indicating her unique band. He nodded acceptance though he seemed surprised at how lightly manned the Normandy was.

"Good. That should lighten the load on my boys and girls. Anything else that we should cover?" She shook her head she couldn't think of anything. At least nothing they could cover until they reached Feros and got some more current intel.

Serious business concluded John leaned forward and popped some kind of fizzy drink that had been placed on the table. "I meant to tell you. Your ship is amazing, you sure lucked out for your first command." He commented. Then he smiled slyly. "Not that it'll ever compete with the Gulf."

She laughed at his good natured ribbing. "So, how did that last batch of missions go? Kohoku had you going after a lead on Cerberus right?"

Both the Captain and John blanched. "Kohoku's dead. I'm surprised you didn't hear. It was Cerberus that got him not that the Alliance is admitting it to the press."

She was appropriately chagrined. "Sorry, been off grid a little bit the last week. What happened?" She asked

"Don't know exactly. We found those Cerberus bases out in the Traverse. But someone must have ratted on Kohoku. Still don't know who. He was taken from a safe house on Benning. We found him face down in the last Cerberus base in a pen full of these crazy bug things. Wasn't killed that way though. Our doc found a hypo mark with poison residue in it." John grumbled. "Got them back for him though. Killed almost a hundred of their agents and soldiers. Turned some nasty intel on them. Seems they have been conducting all sorts of freaky experiments on people."

"That's rough, I heard he was well liked by his men. That's what you were up to when they called you in to back us up?" She felt like apologizing. To who? Kohoku, the Alliance, John, the universe?

Captain Mueller shook his head. "No. Got a lead on a pirate queen called Helena Blake. Took down a couple of her old buddies near the Cerberus installations. Had set themselves up in fortresses behind a small fleet of their guys. Apparently their relationship with her's gone sour. She's after them. We think we've got her location pinned down now, but we had to divert here when the report about Feros came in.

"Well here's hoping we can finish this up relatively quick and get you back to hunting pirates and terrorists instead of protecting colonist from someone whose supposed to be on our side eh?" She asked toasting them with her glass of water. She looked around most of her team had finished eating. "We'll head back over to the Normandy when we drop out for the manoeuvre at 14:00. Just let us know when your ready to kick off the party well follow you in."

The Captain nodded and got to his feet. "I should be getting back to my watch. Let me know if you need anything and enjoy the rest of your time aboard." He left the room.

She watched him go before turning back to her brother. "You know you didn't have to let me know about Kohoku." She reminded John. He nodded "Yeah but I figured you find out soon enough anyways. It may be a secret from the media but its not a secret to the council as yet. You'd have heard through your networks eventually." She bobbed her head**_True enough. _**

**_"_**Anything else interesting I should know about?" He pondered that for a minute. "You heard about moms promotion right?" She nodded. **_X.O of the Kilimanjaro. Should really call and congratulate her on that. _**"Yeah crazy how were all three of us X.O's around the same time. Well two of us are. I'm still getting used to being upgraded so fast."

"Yeah and I told you about Zabeleta last got the time to talk to him right?"

She nodded. "Yeah he'll be seeing V.A for some counselling. For what good that'll do in the face of Mindior."

John nodded sadly "You still getting nightmares?" she hummed an affirmative as the conversation of her squad mates buzzed around her. "Yeah. Less often now, but they still sneak up on me once in a while."

"I was lucky that way. The streets were rough and I saw my share of killing there but at least it was never that bad. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I just can't imagine…. And then to have Akuze on top of that? You must be some special kind of cursed sister." he joked blackly. She chuckled in response. "Either that or blessed in all the wrong ways to survive both." She paused "Bit-o that curse might of splashed onto you considering what happened at Torfan." He grimaced. "True. I'd rather not talk about that. That's were most of _my_ Nightmares come from."

She understood. A mission that goes that bad's gonna leave scars. She struck out for lighter territory. "So seeing anyone special? Still with that girl you were seeing? You know the Asari secretary?"

"Nahiri? No we broke up a while ago. I'm on missions to often. What about that girl on your team? Ashley? She single? He asked eyeing the woman in the corner where she chatted with Alenko.

Shepard pointed her finger at him. "No. At least as far as you're concerned. Understand? I can't be listening to a member of my team mooning about or worse bragging about my brother while were on a mission. The Jibblies I would get from that could get me killed. Ew." He laughed at her. "Come on their isn't someone else special?" She asked turning his attention from Ashley.

"Nope, nobody currently. Though you never know maybe the new girl who just transferred in will be interested." She snagged onto that, and asked curiously "Oh whats her name?"

"Lieutenant Lee Riley" He offered grudgingly seeing the predatory grin his sister had adopted. A shudder ran through the hull and the FTL stream outside the window dimmed saving him from having to tell his sister anymore. She got to her feet and told crew to get moving she wanted to cross the umbilical before they jumped again. It wasn't that it was impossible to cross and umbilical in FTL flight is just that the "slipstream" for lack of a better term, around two linked ships could get messy. Even with a mass effect field and kinetic barriers protecting the bridge between ships you could experience weird gravitational eddies and experience some serious vertigo. She'd seen more than one soldier put down and out for days by an "event" occurring just as they crossed the bridge. She herself had been flung into the overhead once, giving herself a concussion. Time to hustle so they could be ready to haul mass when they dropped out for the final time at Feros. "Come on guys better hustle across. Don't wanna hold up the last leg just because of you delicate flowers not wanting to interrupt your digestion…. Yes Wrex I'm looking at you. I still haven't forgiven you for barfing in the tank."

Nearly a day later Shepard paced outside the door to the comm room. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to her mother it's that she never knew quite what to say when she did. _Her _mother, the original had been killed on Mindior during the Batarian raid. She'd met the new one the day the Alliance flew to their rescue, though she didn't know it at the time. She had been aboard the Carrier Einstein when it had lead the small flotilla of reinforcements to repeal the invaders. She had helped Zabeleta and Anderson contain a particularly distraught young Jennifer when she had begged to go back to the planet to search for her parents. She didn't know it at the time but it was viewing the killing fields where her parents died that had broken Zabeleta.

Hannah Shepard a bridge officer had been able to calm the youth when Anderson and Zabelta had not because she reminded her of her own mother. She was motherly and kind, and had taken the time to get to know the child as one of the few citizens to have been rescued alive. Her kindness had made quite the impression on the young Jenn. It was weeks later in the Alliance Orphanage that she found out that she'd made just as much of an impression on her soon to be mother. It was amazing, you wouldn't think that anyone could adopt another person as their new mother so quickly after losing the first but Hannah was good that way. Jenn later learned that she inspired the crew to loyalty in much the same way.

When she had come into that orphanage looking for her Jenn could hardly believe her ears. Hannah Shepard wanted her for her own little family aboard the Einstein. Apparently it wasn't uncommon for the officers to house their own families aboard ship considering they spent so much time in deep space. She had explained that she would be her new mom and that while there wouldn't be a father in the traditional sense there would be a brother. Someone she had taken in just a couple years prior from a shelter on earth.

It wasn't all sunshine and roses of course Jenn was a traumatized teenage girl, John a very angry hoodlum from the streets, and Hannah a busy, but decorated naval officer from a long line of military service. There had been fights and while the newly minted Jenn Shepard had learned to love and accept her new family she never quite got comfortable talking to the matriarch. What do you say to a woman who sacrifices so much time, effort, and honestly a couple promotions to try and fix your effed up teenage life?

However this time like all other before it Jenn got her mental ducks in a row and decided how she was going to talk to her mother. She tapped the haptic button beside the door and marched in only to be stymied by another obstacle. The room was already in use. She stepped back and checked the door. It still read unoccupied. She thumped it a couple times then looked at the person who was still absorbed in their conversation at the centre of the room.

Ashley Williams was chatting with a young and fresh faced woman on the view screen. "I hear your serving with Commander Shepard. She's hot!" the young woman said brightly. Shepard felt her face flame. Wlliam sighed. "I've told you before Sarah I don't swing that way. Besides I don't even know if _She _swings that way. Asari doctors making moon eyes at her not withstanding." The woman on screen huffed disappointedly. "Aw. Don't be such a bore sis just think of the stories about the love affair with the Hero of Elysium. ooh!" The apparently scatter brained young woman's mind jumped somewhere else. "What about that brother of hers I heard about him on the news too! Have you met him?" She declared "That's more like it. Him? He's more to my tastes." Ashley pantomimed burning her fingers on something hot. Shepard decided to interrupt before this got anymore embarrassing. Strictly speaking she should have backed out immediately upon realizing she was intruding but she'd heard her name and had been curious.

"Ahem." Ashley jumped and slammed her fist into the kill button in reflex. The image of a startled looking Sarah cut out. Ashley whirled around and spotted Shepard propped up in the doorway. First her face flamed red, then a sort of embarrassed sickly green. "Uhhhhh. Please tell me you didn't hear that."

"Sorry, occupancy sign is busted. Didn't mean to overhear if that means anything." She offered trying to console Ashley.

"Oh shoot me now." The woman groaned. "Why couldn't you have just gone and chatted up what's her face?"

**_And deflection_** "Liara? Why would I be chatting her up?" Asked Jenn genuinely curious. "Scuttlebutt is you've got a thing for her. Not exactly my thing but I understand that Asari appeal to quite a few people in the Alliance."

She saw Jenn's increasingly confused expression. "You know the rules against fraternization. Also being an Asari at least she looks like she's a woman and has all the right parts?"

Some clarity entered Shepard's face. "Wou think i'm interested in Liara? Why because she's the only one i'd be allowed to date?" She wondered aloud.

"But you are interested." She stated rather than asked.

It was Jenn's turn to blush. She so didn't need this kind of stuff making the rounds. "That's not what I said. I meant that just because she's available doesn't mean I'd automatically be looking to hit her up. That's making some pretty big assumptions on your part too, isn't it?" She attempted for aloofness. "And even if I were interested it would be nobodies business but mine." She argued.

Ashely sighed apparently frustrated. Possibly out of embarrassment, possibly out of frustration at not getting any juicy info out of the Commander. "So why'd you come by? I assume it wasn't to eaves drop on the family mail?"

"Actually I came to talk to my own family. But since you brought it up. How about your family? They seem important to you." Jennie prodded hoping to deflect more uncomfortable questions aimed at her love life….. Potential love life? **_No Jenn. Bad, focus!_**

Ashley didn't appear to be fooled but conceded defeat for the moment. "Yeah we've always been a close knit group yah know? Especially with the sisters. When dad was on duty I had to help mom raise them."

Shepard took a break when she could get it. "Your dad served with the fleet I take it?" Ashley bobbed her head. "Took any crap posting he could get so long as it offered space time. He worked his ass off trying to get recognized. Never made it above serviceman third. Was real proud when I made chief. First thing he did was salute." She smiled thinly to herself.

"And your mother?"

She snorted "You know what the stereotypical military wife is like. Strong because they have to be? Raising kids while dad is away on a six month tour of duty? That was mom. Had a degree in planetary geology. Gave up her career to raise us rug rats though."

"I know what your getting at about military families. We were constantly on the move. either on the ship or to a new ship. Got used to after a while but it was just me and John until I enlisted."

"Dad always wanted to serve in space. But he wanted us to have real ground under our feet so we didn't live on ship like you, Said "Space is beautiful but its hard to raise a family there."

"I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd

Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those. That loved me, and alone" She quoted.

Jenn considered that for a moment. "Sorry don't think I know that one. Didn't think you'd be the type to recite poetry." Ashley puffed up a little "Just because I can drill something between the eyes from a hundred meters doesn't mean I can't like sensitive stuff." She offered haughtily. "Not that you know about that uncultured cretin." She joked.

"Ulysses was my dad's favourite. Had me read it for a recording every time he shipped out. Had dozens of versions when he retired."

"After he's heard it that much does he still like it?" Jenn asked

"Hope so. If not he's kind of hooped now. I read it to his grave every time I go home. Dad passed on a few years back. But he's probably still watching. So behave" she chided Jenn with a glint in her eye.

"You mean from wherever it is we go after death?" Jenn asked clarifying.

Ashley agreed "Dead on skipper, he's with god now…. That's not a problem for you is it that Im a believer?" She asked cautiously.

Jenn just laughed. "Not a lot of people who call themselves believers these days. But you don't need to worry about that Williams. You ever hear that old saying "Ain't no atheists in a fox hole?" Ashley nodded that she had. "Well i've been in a hell of a lot of foxholes."

"Huh. Guess you have, haven't you. Met a few people who were really weirded out by my faith." Ashley admitted. "Yeah, because I work in space it means I can't believe in a higher power? Just don't understand how people can look out the window at the galaxy and not believe in _something _beyond their own petty lives." Ashley finally appeared to realize she was blocking access to the comm array. "Uh…. Didn't mean to take up so much of your time skipper. I'll be off now. Gotta catch some shut eye." She hurried out of the room before Shepard could respond. **_Perhaps she felt she'd shared to much? or maybe she's still embarrassed about mentioning she's got the hots for John. Double Ew._**

Finally after shaking those thoughts out of her head she turned to the comm terminal and placed her call. The call placed her first through to the Dreadnoughts Yeoman who redirected her past the switchboard to her mother. "Shepard speak- oh hi hon. I'm afraid I'm on duty right now." She heard the regret in her mothers voice. She didn't get the chance to call her often enough.

"I know what that's like. But this is actually mostly business this time so i'll be keeping it brief. Do you remember Lieutenant Zabeleta from the Einstein?"

He mother sounded surprised "Ernesto? Have you heard from him? He was one of the Marines tasked with Guarding the C.I.C we shared a watch. I lost track of him after….um an incident." She said delicately. Jenn vaguely remembered the sound of shouting and a fight but by the time she arrived it had been broken up, and following that Zabeleta stopped coming round. "He's not doing so well right now mom. He's basically a bum on the citadel. he had to hit me up for cash he's that broke. I felt bad for him and I remembered that he was one of those who rescued me from those Batarians who found me under the house, so I gave him some cash and directed him to veteran's affairs. Not sure it did any good though."

"He's homeless…" a sigh rushed over the comm. "He tried to keep working but it rode him. He showed up drunk while on duty more and more. We couldn't always cover for him. The Alliance was forced to discharge him. Everybody knew he drank because of what he'd seen down there but it wasn't enough to save his job. I think the only reason he held in there as long as he had was thanks to you. It gave him something good to hold onto for a while."

"For it to have affected him that deeply he must have been a particularly sensitive man. I know others who didn't take as hard." Her mother sounded as though she was remembering. "Alway in laughter or tears. If you see him again let him know we still worry about him." She sighed "I really should be going now though anything else?" She asked

"No. Not really just wanted to say congrats on the promotion. An X.O gig on a dreadnought is serious stuff. John and I got a chance to talk about it. Were both impressed and proud. Just thought you should know mom."

Her mother laughed. "Your proud of me? Ha! I'm the one who's proud, both my children reach exec status in record time and one of them has the gumption to become the first human Spectre. Next to that? X.O of a Dreadnought's nothing hon. Kilimanjaro out." The line faded out and with that she needed to get back to work.

It was a couple days later when the pair of frigates dropped out of F.T.L several light minutes from Feros. It was a faint green dot in the distance if viewed with the naked eye. With the electronic eyes of the warships the details of the planet became clear.

A largely green world only slightly larger than Earth and with two moons. Feros was the sight of one of the Largest Prothean ruins found by humans to date. At one point the ruins must have housed tens of thousands if not millions of Protheans. Now a few skeletal skyscrapers where all that remained, a testament to the Prothean's architectural prowess.

As predicted thanks to the comm network a small flotilla of Geth frigates and fighters floated idly in loose formation around the planet.

Jenn standing on the bridge was going over their preliminary scans, then she hailed the Leyte Gulf and spoke to Captain Mueller.

"Geth right where we were expecting them. They clustered in formation above the Colony. I can't see anyway we're getting near the primary complex." He noted.

Shepard brought up a secondary blip on the display. "Says here theirs a small secondary outpost called Zhu's hope several clicks outside the primary. In the codex its mentioned that its used primarily as a cargo port."

"Sound's promising. Can you get us a tighter scan of the area." Requested The Gulf's captain.

"Yes. Lieutenant Kharesh could you please run a tight beam scan of the building at the coordinates I'm sending you." The officer nodded an affirmative and Jenn waited while the task was completed. The Leyte gulf was the only ship the Geth were currently capable of detecting so she had to be cautious in taking any action that might alert them to the presence of a second ship. One ship she knew would likely be dismissed as tactically insignificant. A pair, especially if one of them was stealthed might provoke the Geth into reacting before they were ready.

"Done commander, displaying results now." Reported the officer. The display zoomed in on a Concrete grey structure poked up through a cloud layer a thin strand flying high across the gap to another cluster of buildings. **_Is it really concrete?_** wondered Jenn idly as the image zoomed in a second time. **_If it is, the Protheans found some ways to make it do pretty impressive things._** The second magnification revealed that the top of the buildings upper most observation deck… at least that what she assumed that it was, had been blown away at some point exposing a massive flat open courtyard. In the centre of the courtyard was a Kowloon Frieghter that appeared to have been stripped down to act as the central habitat for the outpost. An array of prefab structures and semi-permanent tents covered the majority of the rest of the deck. Even from this great a distance the Normandy's eyes could pick out scurrying forms among the buildings, and while Geth did many things they didn't tend to scurry.

"Looks like the outpost is still inhabited. I'd say this is definitely our point of entry Captain." She offered sending him the feeds from their sensors.

A pause while the Captain considered. "I concur. Now how do you propose we get down there?"

"If we come in low through the clouds and wide outside their perimeter it's unlikely their sensors will be able to accurately lock onto ships as small as ours to shoot us down. They're clearly unwilling to simply destroy the structures we still hold from orbit so that may provide additional protection." She noted pointing out Zhu's Hope's Continued existence.

"Then I agree low and quiet, Commander." Growled the Captain. "Form up on our wing. Lets see if they left the back door open."

Authors Note:

Hey guys just wanted to remind everyone that I need feedback if I am to improve. Otherwise Happy Thanksgiving.


	11. Chapter 11: Feros I

**Chapter 11: Feros I**

The Normandy and the Leyte Gulf were able, with not insignificant care, to slip past the Geth Ships patrolling above the colony into the area surrounding Zhu's Hope. The Geth fired sporadically at them from their positions above and around the Primary colony in the distance. "Why aren't they just pounding the colony from orbit are they worried they might destroy whatever it is they're looking for?" Asked Captain Mueller over the radio. "Possibly though I doubt it. Saren appears to have no problem with scorched earth doctrine." She considered the question further.

"Its possible that this is their way of being thorough. Its possible that Saren doesn't want to risk even a scrap of whatever's here falling into our hands. What that is precisely I have no idea" She admitted. "Also what ever it is he either doesn't have it already or its to decentralized to destroy easily. Hence sending hordes of shock troopers to the surface. Seems to mostly be focused around the Exo-Geni building though hmmm" She pondered as the {air of ship wove their way to their destination. "Guess I won't know until I take a look around." She caught a glimpse of the Tower which Zhu's Hope was perched atop as well as its dock ports. "We'll be docking in a moment see you ground side." She cut the comm and hurried back to where her team was preparing around the C.I.C.

It was the First time that she would be fielding the entirety of those she had recruited in addition to the ships standard compliment of Marines. The more veteran members were already locked and loaded. Ashley, Kaidan, Wrex and Garrus all stood ready in their gear waiting for the others to finish up. Tali was fiddling with some new plating over her traditional Quarian Environment suit and Liara was just finishing snugging up her last gauntlet. The rest of the marines stood in their Alliance blues and blacks over by the wall.

Liara was coming along nicely Ashley had reported. She and Wrex had been drilling the slight Asari in weapons and hand to hand drills. "She may not be up to marine quality in the fighting area but she's improving fast." Ashley had conceded. The reports she got from doctor Chakwas were also encouraging. The doctor had been training Liara to conduct basic medical care in the field. She was proving to be a dab hand at it.

Jenn came to a stop in front of the cluster of armoured figures. "Ok. Were about to dock with the Feros Colony. The reason I had you all meet up here is that records indicate that Feros only has a standard docking umbilical not a cargo bridge. We'll be exiting via the primary airlock. I need the Wrex and Garrus up front. Followed by Ashley and Kaidan. Tali and Liara you'll stick to the centre of the group. Marines, I need you to take up the rear, guard our backs." She stared into each of there faces. "All right everyone move out." She felt the Normandy decelerating under their feet, and they were going to have to hit the ground running. She lined up in her place beside the door. The jolt forward as the ship came to a stop, the woosh-clunk of the docking cradles arms grabbing onto the hull and the steady beeping of the air pressure being adjusted to allow them to safely disembark. With a final beep the pressure equalized and the airlock door hissed open. She signalled her team through. Wrex lead the charge onto the docks, Garrus at his shoulder. Jenn followed close behind. The dock space was trashed. burning freight containers and dead colonists littered the space.

"Shepard to Leyte Gulf we are groundside. The docks have been hit hard. Heavy civilian casualties, status?" She barked over her comm. She heard the steady thumping of her crews feet on the jet way bridge. "Jenn, John here, we've just disembarked. Encountering the same level of casualties. We are three stories above you. You've got operational command what do you want to do?" He brother called back from where his team had made landfall.

"According to the maps we have of Zhu's hope there should be an atrium three floors above you. We'll clear the eastern stairwells and meet up with you there." She stated glancing over her omni-tools readout. She urged her team forward and followed them as they entered a pair of stairwells. She divided the team for this part ordering half up one shaft and half up the other. It was then that they encountered there first resistance. If she hadn't been anticipating the possibility she might have missed it, the streak of motion out of the corner of her eye that heralded a Geth hopper.

"Geth hoppers!" She cried out the warning across the comm and out loud. She brought her rifle to her shoulder and fired a burst up the stairwell at the bounding synthetic monstrosities. John's line clicked on and gunfire could be heard. "Confirmed. Geth special units encountered, advancing!" he replied.

She zeroed in on one of the hoppers and fired a burst it saw her and attempted to dodge. Not fast enough the rail, accelerated rounds ate up its side and it dropped to the steps with a crash. Wrex's shotgun boomed and another shattered against the far wall of the stairwell.

"Commander I have an idea!" shouted Alenko from behind her. She pulled him forward and got out of his way. Blueish light flared around him as his Biotics came to life and he threw out his arm in a control gesture a bluish bolt flew off his hands and arced up the shaft. Shepard glanced out in time to see the bolt explode against the floor of one of the staircases the unleashed wave roared down the underside dislodging a pair of hoppers causing them to spin wildly as the careened down the shaft. It was a long time before the thud echoed back up to them.

"John, Status?" She called over the radio.

"Casualty. One of my Marines caught a bolt through the chest. He's alive and were stabilizing him. We'll be arriving at the rendezvous momentarily."

"Understood we're coming up the east stairwell now, well see you soon." She cut the feed. They barrelled the rest of the way up the stairway unopposed. And exited the well into the sight of a massacre.

Apparently the Colonists had attempted to hold back the Geth by setting up a small set of impromptu fortifications in the atrium. Furniture, broken crates and a handful of actual military grade prefabricated wall sections made up a circular barricade in which a unit of defenders had made some kind of last stand. Now their bodies lay broken tossed this way and that about the room, some still clutching their weapons.

Apparently the fight hadn't been "entirely" one sided. Shepard found her brother examining the body of a Geth trooper which appeared to have been felled by the defenders. "Twenty casualties all told I think." He said looking up into her face. He shuffled over to a dead colonist and closed their now blind eyes. "How far to the main colony?" he asked. As his soldiers finished clearing the space. Jenn spotted his wounded marine being tended to off to the side by his teams medic, who was busy patching a hole in his chest.

"Ten stories up on the old observation deck, not too far now." She shrugged **_relatively speaking. _**"You leaving your man here for the medics?" She asked. On the one hand it was never a good idea to leave the wounded unattended in enemy territory, on the other bringing him would hobble the soldiers who had to help him along. **_Leave him here with a guard?_** She wondered. Regardless he was John's man, so John needed to decide.

"I'm Gonna leave him here with one of our medics until we've secured the colony." He said. She nodded as he directed his medic to stick with the wounded. "Okay have your men form up on the northeastern stairwell. I'll be heading up the northwestern. Start up whenever your ready." She tossed over her shoulder as she headed to her position.

They headed up the stairs moments later after checking their weapons and armour. They didn't encounter any hostiles until near the end of the long climb. They were fortunate though the Geth Troopers were focused on a bank of barricades from behind which colonists tossed the occasional burst of weapon fire. Two large teams of Marines caught the Geth troopers, catching them from behind ensured the Geth contingent died a swift death.

As John's team finished securing the perimeter of the barricade Jenn got her first good look at the colony from the ground. One thing an orbital image could seldom convey way just what kind of shape a target zone was in. In this case it was apparent that Zhu's Hope was a settlement under siege. weapons fire had scored the sides of many of the buildings and bodies had been collected and shrouded off to the side. Small fires burned here and there and people scurried about attempting to repair the damage from the most recent attack.

As she finally approached the barricade she heard many prayers of thanks being muttered and murmured under the defenders breaths. Tired, shadowed eyes stared out at her from grimy faces as a portion of the defence was removed and slid out of the way. The pair responsible nodded to her eyeing her uniform almost reverently as she passed.

An Exo-Geni security officer stood to the side exhorting a militia fireteam. "Head to the tunnel and make sure they're secure."

The leader of the fire team winced. "But what If we find Geth there?" He asked nervously.

"You saying you won't go?" was the demanded response.

"No! No I'll go, its just we've got soldiers here now…." He trailed off as she drew closer. The Exo-Geni Guard nodded at her. "Hello Ma'am, we saw your ship but couldn't leave the defences to come meet you. Fai Dan would like to speak with you."

She came to a stop and signalled her squad to disperse along the perimeter while she talked. "Who's Fai Dan?" The Officer blinked surprise for a moment before remembering she was new. "Oh right. Fai Dan is this Colonies leader. Last I knew he was up by the south barricade with the security chief. Please quickly, he's going to want to talk to you about shoring up our defences."

She nodded "Then thats where I'm headed." "Normandy squad rally at the south barricade. Gulf A and B hold the north barricade. Lieutenant Commander Shepard please follow me to meet with the colony leaders." She broadcast over the landing forces frequency. A cavalcade of green acknowledgement lights ignited on her H.U.D and her brother trotted over from where he had been previously.

They made there way around the beleaguered freighter MSV Borealis which made up the colonies primary building and sure enough right where the officer had predicted was a bald colonial who's I.D tag signified him as Fai Dan. With him stood a frightened looking woman wearing Exo-Geni combat armour. They looked up at their approach, Fai Dan dismissing something from his omni-tool and shutting it down.

"Ah Commander!." he said glancing toward the epaulets on her collar. "I'm glad somebody finally showed up to help us."

"A bit late aren't you?" Said the young woman accusation ringing in her voice. Neither Shepard bothered to defend themselves against her rebuke. She was clearly in some stage of shock and wasn't thinking clearly.

Fai Dan chided her "Arcelia! I'm sorry Commander, everyone's been on edge since…." He was cut off by an explosion against the barricades and the Chatter of Geth weapons fire. One of the Militiamen tumbled off the barricade and writhed clutching at a wounded shoulder.

"Watch out!" cried one of the defenders. "We've got Geth at the south entrance." The Shepards and their new allies rushed to the barricade. Crouching behind it Jenn peeked over the edge to get a look at what they were facing. **_At least a dozen troopers, a sniper unit…. and some kind of heavy platform._** She tallied them up as she spotted a large black armoured unit with orange markings shouldering its way to the front. It spotted her and hefted a large triple barrelled weapon. She ducked down again as the weapon barked hurling a trio of plasma bolts hissing over in her direction. They thudded into the defences plating. A acrid stench rose as the boiling energy ate through metal, composites and fibreglass.

"Focus fire on the big one. His guns eating the barricade." Shouted John to the other defenders. Wrex who had positioned himself a little north of them fired a Carnage class grenade launcher round off his shotgun. The Geth saw it coming and lightning fast its hand whipped out a shimmering Kinestic barrier flashed into existence for a moment deflecting the explosive.

As more of the Alliance forces hit the barricade and started adding fire to that already arrayed against the Geth, the Hostile fire began to slacken. First one then two and three of the Troopers fell to assault rifle fire. Then with a boom the Sniper fell, a bolt from Garrus's sniper rifle shattering its chest cavity.

"Alenko warp that heavy. Bring his barrier down." Jenn ordered over the comm. A flash of blue followed by a feeling of universal "wrongness" as a biotic attack rippled over the barricade, distorting reality in its wake until it detonated against the shield of the Geth heavy unit. The barriers flickered and died.

Jenn shouldered her rifle as the monster staggered under the assault, two more of it fellows falling. She depressed the trigger and her rifle stitched fire up the things armoured hide. It fired a burst at her and she was about to duck again when another Carnage grenade screamed from over on Wrexes side and detonated against the Geth. It's arm tore off and skittered away across the ground, a Massive whole gaping in its chest. It armature flashlight like lenses swivelled to survey the damage almost like a shell shocked human would in its place.

A burp of rifle fire from John and the beast stumbled again. She checked her movement and reshoulderd the rifle firing a burst into the exposed area on its chest. A cascade of sparks erupted as some of her rounds found something important and exploded it in its chest. The Monstrosity clutched at its chest and fell to its knees. Finally teetering its flashbulb eyes winking out it toppled over.

"Fai Dan whats that way?" She called over to the balding man as her squad worked to chase off the last of the invaders. "How did they get in?"

"The south stairwells and the landing deck. They like to bring in dropships there but we can't stop them…" He explained.

She nodded and watched as the Geth line began to waver finally starting a fighting retreat. "All right ,we'll follow them see if we can't do something about that." "Normandy squad, all of you, except Kaidan and Ashley, stay here. John you take them and clear that pad!" She vaulted over the barricade and charged the fleeing Geth helping clear a path. She hammered into the side of a distracted unit and brought her rifle up under its arms into it chest and pulled the trigger, too close for the shields to offer any protection. Its chest tore open and the unit fell dead.

Ashley and Kaidan formed up on her brother and followed the Geth through the door they had come in through. Jenn watched until they were gone then returned to the barricade. "All teams in Zhu's Hope report in." She sent out.

"Gulf Alpha reports situation normal no casualties."

"Gulf Beta reports Clear."

"Normandy Squad reports no casualties." She returned upon inspecting her team. "All teams report if you make contact with the enemy. Otherwise I want a check in every fifteen minutes until I say otherwise." Acknowledgement lights lit up. She turned back to where Fai Dan and Arcelia crouched behind the barrier. "I understand were not clear yet but as soon as the unit returns I'm going to need more information about the colonies status. " She stated. "Just so we can properly coordinate a defence."

Fai Dan's face wrinkled slightly then smoothed. He nodded "As you wish commander. I'll go check in on my people." he got up Arcelia trailing after him and jogged over and into to the Borealis.

**_Wonder how Johns doing? He's only been gone a few moments can't be asking for an update yet…. Damn. This is why families generally aren't deployed together. What else can I be doing? _**"Normandy and Leyte Gulf, This is commander Shepard come in please." She waited until two windows opened on her H.U.D one contained Captain Mueller the other Navigator Pressly. "Status Commander?" requested the captain.

"We've secured the colony, minimal marine casualties. One man wounded, part way between the ships and the colony. I'm going to have some marines bring him up here for treatment."

"Anything we can do to help?" Asked Pressly. She bobbed her head "Get the medics, docs, and sec specialists ready to roll. I'll have some marines run down and meet them shortly. Otherwise…." She Considered for a moment "Does the Leyte Gulf Field any shuttles, or is it just tanks like us?" She asked the Captain. He shook his head and rolled his eyes "We used to have a UT-47 but they replaced it last refit with another Mako."

Jenn was disappointed a Combat shuttle would have been useful. **_Just have to make due won't I. Not like I have a choice. _**"Alright Pressly you have those packages I requested earlier ready." She had him and the crew gather all of the Normandy's meagre supply of Combat Engineer gear and prepare it for off loading.

He nodded in his little window. "Affirmative ma'am. The sec specialists have been loaded up with them. They will arrive with the med teams."

"Alright. I'll be in touch as soon as possible, Shepard out." She cut that feed and switched to Johns. "John, Status?" she called. Johns voice replied. "We've engaged the Geth at the landing pad. Almost finished here, this time, but how do we plan to keep them from dropping here again?"

"We don't we'll booby trap it once you've finished clearing it. Next time the Geth roll in they'll get a nasty surprise." She heard the gunfire echoing on the other end of the line tapering off."

"Understood. Landing pad clear. You want us to wait here for the engineers or return?"

"Return, over" she replied.

An affirmative flashed and the I.F tags marking John and the rest started moving, returning to her position.

Fai Dan and Arcelia jogged back up, Fai Dan puffing a little. "The Tower is secure?" He asked nervously. She nodded **_or as secure as it can be right now. _**"Thank you Commander."

She shrugged "I'm just glad your colony is safe for now."

"Were thankful for your help against the Geth." Arcelia was less optimistic than Fai Dan. "They may have been slowed but they'll be back. They always come back."

"You know what the Geth were after? If we find it we may be able to stop them and get all of us out of here alive."

Fai Dan got a coughing fit so Arcelia answered for him. "No I'm sorry I don't know what they're looking for." She dabbed at the sweat on her brow. "Maybe try the Exo-Geni Headquarters?"

Fai Dan finally straightened up nodding, "Yes I'd try Exo-Geni."

John and the team which had accompanied him came back through the south exit and wandered over to Jenn. "So how bout that report I asked for. What kind of shape is the colony in."

Fai Dan shook his head sadly. "We've survived the Geth attacks so far. But it's started to take its toll. The Generators for the camp are down burned out by trying to power the Kinetic Barriers. The Water systems have gone down. Apparently at the source down in the aqueducts below the tower, and we're running short on food now." "I've got people working on solving these problems but theirs only some much we can do with the threat of a Geth attack looming over us. My people aren't up to a raid into those tunnels to turn the water back on and to hunt animals and parts. We sent down a scout a few minutes ago but he was forced to turn back, the Geth have set up an outpost of some kind down there."

Jenn scratched at her collar bone idly while she considered this. It's going to be a while before were ready to move. Now that Johns back I've got to get our teams up from the ships and add that to the fact that night is falling. It'll probably be dawn before were ready to deal with any of those things. Any Idea what exactly is wrong with the generators?" She asked.

"Miss O'connell says the issue is that the M29 Grizzly power cells used by the Generator as backups burnt out during the fighting." He recited concentrating to remember what he had been told. "Why?"

"We should be able to produce some M29 Cells over night with the Normandy and Leyte Gulf's micro-fabricators. The M29 is an older model but we should still have the schematics for the parts in the database." Fai Dan seemed pleased by this notion.

"As to the others I'll send John out with a team tomorrow morning to see if he can deal with that. In the meantime lets get those medics down here and set up a watch pattern okay?"

Everyone voiced some level of agreement. "Okay people lets get to work its gonna be a long night."

John had never served under or with his sister before. He was impressed to see how much she had matured over the years. Back when they had been adolescents she had had a chip the size of Texas on her shoulder and a sort of bull headed determination. He was glad to see that Anderson and the rest of the Alliance had polished her up so well. He'd known she'd changed somewhat thanks to the various times they had met while dockside or on leave at the same time but seeing her in action made it particularly apparent. Gone was the ornery brat and in her place stood a capable woman. Someone he could follow.

Not that he hadn't followed her before, repeatedly getting into trouble together in the two years or so they'd both lived under the same roof. But now there was a good reason to follow. In short he called it command presence, but it was more than that. It was one thing to be able to convince people you knew which orders to give and when, it was entirely another to know they could back up those orders with real ability. He'd seen her personally kill several Geth during the initial push against the Geth and then again several times through the night as the Geth Counter attacked. Each time she had come alive, flowing like water around her enemies then striking fast and lethal like lightning.

Ironically it was his new willingness to follow that had him standing up to his hips in stagnant water early in the morning light. He had led a team made up of Leyte Gulf's Lee Riley and Normandy's Richard Jenkins and Kaidan Alenko, down into the old Prothean aqueducts under the tower. Fifty thousand years of sludge had built up and it stank to high heaven. On the other hand at least the aqueducts water wasn't where the water the colony subsisted on, actually came from. The Water the colony used came through pipes which had been strung along the ducts concrete walls. It was with these pipes ,that the problem had laid. The Geth had simply come along and shut off every valve along the network, all the way to a fresh water lake several miles from the tower. In order to fix the problem John's team had to wade out to three particular control valves and switch them back on.

This was after fighting off a horde of Varren, the animals they had been sent to hunt for rations. Four legged "Fish Dogs" originally from Tuchanka with deep sea fish like eyes and teeth, and about half again as large as your average Terran canine, but with the added bonus of four times more attitude.

And just before fighting a Geth Platoon augmented by a Krogan Mercenary Squad which had taken positions to guard a landing zone the Geth had used to gain access to the aqueducts and the tower.

By the time John reached the final valve control he had about had it with Feros. Lee a particularly attractive red headed Boston lass was complaining bitterly about getting mud in her unmentionables as they hauled themselves up onto the nearest access walkway. That's when they heard it, muttering.

John swung around searching for the sound and found a man sitting several meters down along the walkway dangling his feet over the edge looking down into the water. As Shepard approached the man looked up as though startled by the soldiers who had just spent the last five minutes wading loudly out of the muck. "Uh hello…" greeted John.

"You don't want to go down there," was the mans opening non-sequitur.

John blinked surprise and glanced at his team mates."Uh…. What are you doing down here?" As far as John knew all the colonist from Zhu's Hope were accounted for or so Fai Dan said.

"Nothing I should be. Anything I shouldn't" was his evasive reply, John was about to reply when the man jerked and clutched at his head crying out and falling to his knees.

"Oh that was a good one." muttered the man as the… whatever it was abated. "Very intense."

John was pretty sure the look on his face was priceless. "What's the matter with you." He demanded bluntly. The man's eyes jerked to his own and Shepard was startled by the expression there, a look of almost pleading.

"Just invoking the masters whip. Helps remind me I''m still alive." Then finally the man spoke something half sensible. "You're here for the Geth aren't you? You aren't the only one interested in those things."

"Who else would be looking for the Geth?" Lee wondered aloud. The man shook his head. "No looking for, looking to get rid of. They're a thorn in the side of ….." He was interrupted by another seizure. "Trying to get to the aaiiieeee." He screamed and then laughed.

"Um I hate to say it because this guys clearly sick, but we can't exactly haul this guy back with us if he's like this." Noted the guy from the Normandy Marine team. **_Jenkins? Leroy? No Richard! Richard Jenkins._** John remembered, he put that aside as he tried to decide what to do with the man in front of him. **_Leave it up to him? _**"Is there anything I can do to help you? Do you even want help?" He asked skeptically as the man rolled around laughing.

"Help me? No. No one can help me now." The man muttered as he rolled to his feet again bouncing uneasily on his heels. "I'd rather die fighting!" He ground out as tremors wracked his body."

"Perhaps I could help you if I knew what you were fighting?" Shepard offered.

"Not that kind of fight." The man panted. "Like running through a thorn bush. The more you struggle…. Times up. Companies coming, ask Fai Dan about the th…." A final seizure wracked him and his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slump back. Kaidan rushed forward. "I've got a pulse. What the hell was that?"

"Don't know, he said Fai Dan would know. But Fai Dan didn't indicate that they were missing anyone in the first place. Still it makes me uneasy, particularly that last bit about company coming, anyone know what that was about?"

"I think I do, look down the causeway at that next bridge." Riley pointed. John squinted and made out the form of Geth troopers and drones descending from above onto the concrete below. John unslung his rifle from its lock on his back. "Come on. We'll clear these bastards then maybe we'll see about hauling this guy back to base. Maybe we can get some answers from Fai Dan."

John was frustrated. Not only had Jenn not returned but his conversation with Fai Dan had been less than enlightening. They had after some consideration, decided it was better to move the man back up to the colony. An endeavour which had taken a lot of effort. All Fai Dan had had to say on the subject was that his name was Ian Newstead and that he was a "Troubled young man" and that no, he Fai Dan, did not know what Ian was alluding to.

But It was not just Johns gut which was twanging now. Apparently the squads had noticed odd behaviour from the colonists. Odd twitching whenever questioned about the cause of the Geth invasion. Twice since he had gotten back John had spotted one of the colonists just standing stalk still, as though listening, before hurrying off on some nonsensical task. Like guarding the crane hitch. There was nothing around the crane hitch in need of guarding nor was the hitch close to any of the enemy approach vectors. When questioned about it the woman had merely muttered about "running diagnostics."

John had a sinking feeling, so he tried to hail Jenn. Silence, but he held out hope that she could at least hear him even if she couldn't respond just then. "Jenn, somethings up at the colony. We recovered a sick man in the tunnel and ever since we returned we've noticed the colonists acting strangely. I don't know whats going on, but I think something more than your standard invasion is going on. Watch you back." He noticed a militiaman staring intently at him and snapped off the recording. That feeling in his gut was rapidly turning to ice. "Doctor Chakwas. I think we need to take this operation back to the ship" he murmured when he had evaded the man's eyes. "Many of these patients are not fit to move Lieutenant Commander." She said sternly "Why in the blazes would we relocate now."

"Doctor I can't explain it right now just get your team packed and ready to go right now. Meet by the north entrance as soon as possible." She glared at him and started to protest but he stared her down and she harrumphed before starting to pile supplies into her kit. If Johns feeling was right they were going to have more serious problems than a few wounded colonists very soon.

Authors Note:

Can always use feed back and suggestions. Otherwise I just wanted to ask for opinions on who should survive Virmire. I've got some ideas myself but maybe you guys have some insight I don't. Thanks to fahRENheit2006, venomRED, and Quinnthelionheartedgirl. For some advice they've been giving me. And Thanks for the reviews K0H, Kairos, DarkHyena, Endrius and ngrey651


	12. Chapter 12: Feros II

Chapter 12

**_Several Hour Prior_**

"Fai Dan does the Colony have any tanks?" Jenn asked. The Normandy could not deploy its own Mako to the skyway without exposing itself needlessly. Fai Dan shook his head sadly. "Exo-Geni used to operate a small number of tanks as I recall but none of them are here right now. We do however have a set of M-080 A.P.C transports for running supplies between the main colony and here." Jenn grimaced an M-080 A.P.C was the type of troop transport used extensively by the Alliance and it's colonies. Sadly it was also unarmed in the transport configuration. It would have to do though. "All right if you could have some of your boys get it ready I need to prep my team." The small balding man nodded and hurried off to do just that.

She turned to the team she had selected for this mission. Having delegated Kaidan and Jenkins to supporting her brother she had to order most of the rest of her team to guard the barricades. So she chose who would come carefully. Ashley she decided, a lot of open space along that skyway and if they ran into a fight her sniper rifle might come in handy. Also she had the advantage of being human. Seeing an armed Turian or Krogan could cause a twitchy colonial to open fire without thinking. Her second choice was Tali. Tali may not have been human thus being at risk where others were not she was also a master with electronics. If they ran into any security trying to infiltrate the Exo-Geni compound she would need that expertise. So she got a pass, on the condition that she strapped on as many armoured plates and kinetic barriers as her armour could handle. Jenn disliked the idea of endangering the enthusiastic younger woman, girl really, but there was nothing for it.

Jenn shrugged into her own combat suit as the other two checked over there weapons. It had certainly lost some of its new, off the factory line, sheen since she had commissioned it on the citadel, On the plus side the urban camouflage patterned armour was just about perfect in an environment like the ruins of Feros. She clipped herself in, secured her helmet, and holstered her firearms. Her rifle needed a new ammo block so she slotted one in now while she had the chance.

She looked up, Tali looked a little uncomfortable with the limited plating she had been able to secure to her suit. She tugged nervously at the edge of one, while Ashley on the other hand stood comfortably off to the side checking the sight of her rifle idly.

"All right the tank should be warmed up by now and Fai Dan's men should have had a chance to check it over. Anything else we need? Speak now or forever hold your peace." Shepard smirked slightly.

Tali quirked her head slightly not understanding the turn of phrase but stayed quiet. Ashley smiled thinly before shaking her head. It was early morning and the colony was relatively quiet now, having weathered and rebuffing multiple assaults from the Geth throughout the night. They had been woken by the last watch as per her orders and had eaten and geared up in relative silence so as to let the others get what rest they could.

Fai Dan came hurrying around the corner and up to them before speaking. "Its ready. I hope you find what you're looking for Commander" again that small twitch under his eye which he rubbed at. Jenn could understand that. Your eyes got mighty heavy after many hours on watch. He stuck out his hand and shook hers before hurrying off to try and get some shut eye of his own. They hurried down to the lift accessible near the landing pad and from there down to the skyway garage.

A number of overturned barricades and wrecked Exo-geni fighting vehicles littered the hanger but a colonial militia A.P.C had indeed been salvaged and prepared in the centre of the room. A six wheel vehicle like the mako, the M-080 had a pair of pilot cabins and an expanded blood pan in back for carrying troops. On the Mako, a more sleek hulled vehicle, this space was used to house and mount a gun. However despite this shortcoming Shepard was pleased to see that this particular vehicle had been outfitted with a full set of armoured skirts and reactive armour plating to augment its defences. The Militiamen working on it hopped down and hurried away , all except for one not pausing to speak with the Commander and her team.

"She's all fuelled up and ready to go, but we saw some of those Geth drones nosing around the road outside. Smart bet they know we're up to something, better move fast or you may get caught out in the open." The man hurried off before Jenn could formulate a response. She walked up to one of the two cockpit like drivers compartments and flipped the canopy open. "Tali's on electronic warfare Ash, you're gonna have to ride solo in back. Tali your spots in the second compartment," she indicated the one to which she was referring.

"All right just try not to drive off the bridge commander. Talk about your long drops," quipped Ashley as she piled into the back of the vehicle. Shepard glanced at the vast height to which the other woman had been referring and shivered a little. The cloud tops licked at the bottom of the bridge this early in the morning. Several kilometres to the ground, at the least, figured Jenn.

She strapped herself in and closed the canopy over herself glancing over at Tali who was doing the same. The happy little Quarian gave an enthusiastic thumbs up and Jenn eased the control sticks forward causing the vehicle to accelerate out onto the skyway.

The skyway was a many kilometres long express of blacktop and concrete soaring high above the ground between buildings. And it turned out that at least for the moment most of those kilometres were empty of Geth. Although all around were signs that they had been through the area. Burnt out tanks, wrecked cars, dead soldiers, dead civilians, a wrecked shuttle…

They powered down the roadway quickly. The vehicles tires whirring against the road creating an almost hypnotic sound. They were nearing halfway when a static signal began broadcasting over the radio. "… the last batch went south. What are they looking for?" asked a woman's voice.

"You guys hearing this?" She asked her small team. "Yes commander, I'm trying to triangulate its position. Its weak. I'm having trouble pinpointing it, I think the Geth are generating some kind of interference" replied Tali, Shepard could see her if she looked over into the other canopy. Another message played over the speakers. "… Any sign of movement? Lizbeth could still be in there," demanded the voice.

"Could they hear us if we broadcast?" She asked.

"Unlikely Commander, the person making the transmission appears to be using some kind of booster to cut through the interference. Our vehicles booster isn't strong enough."

A few more moments passed and they neared a building sitting about half way between them and their destination. "… It's only been a few days." A few moments pause then. "She's my daughter I'll wait as long as I have to! Wait we've got movement not one of the Geth!" cried the voice excitedly.

"You think she's talking about us?" She asked.

Tali answered. "Maybe, if she's in that building ahead. We'd be entering visual range right about now." She sounded uncertain.

"See if you can't flag them down!" Demanded the voice. Moments later a green light began to play out from one of the outer balconies of the structure ahead focusing right on her windscreen. "Well I guess that answers that question" She muttered as she flickered the tanks headlights in response. The voice responded almost immediately "Yes they see us! Some one get down to the garage!" Relief was audible in the voice's tone.

"Guys I think were making a rest stop." She heard snickering from the back.

"Don't worry skipper I don't have to pee. If you wanna just drive on through I'll be fine." Joked Ashley. Shepard shook her head smiling at the humour. **_One heck of a road trip._**

As they pulled up to the collapsing buildings' garage Shepard spotted a man in Exo-Geni armor waving frantically at her. She pulled the A.P.C up along the curb and signalled everyone to pile out popping the canopy and climbing out. The man rushed over "Thank god. I was beginning to think we were all alone. Come quickly the others will want to meet you" he gestured enthusiastically and started away before waiting for an answer. All Shepard could do was follow.

It was five minutes later down a few floors, in what looked vaguely like the Prothean version of a maintenance break room, they found the rest of the survivors. Perhaps fifteen refugees had taken up shelter in the buildings deeper reaches in an attempt to evade the Geth. Judging by the number of dead Geth platforms she'd seen scattered around prior to entering the room they hadn't been entirely successful.

A pair of nervous looking Exo-Geni employees stepped forward to greet her as they came in. At least it looked like they were there to greet them but one of them a slightly portly asian man brandished a weapon at her. "That's close enough!"

The woman next to him sighed "Relax Jeong. They're obviously not Geth." her voice belied her as the radio operator.

"Get back Juliana. Who are you what do you want?" He demanded.

_Oh god here we go. Shocky autocrat at twelve o'clock. It must be my lucky day. _

"Relax. I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance navy. I'm here because someone called about a Geth infestation?"

"See you worry too much Jeong." Said Juliana

"And you trust too easily."

She sighed and rolled her eyes at him "I'm just glad to see a friendly face. Thought we were the only humans left on this planet."

"Fai Dan and some of the members of Zhu's Hope are still alive." Stated Shepard.

Juliana shot Jeong an accusatory look. "I thought you said they were all dead?"

He shook his head dismissively "I said they were probably all dead" he clarified.

"They live but the Geth have really devastated their numbers." Interjected Tali who stood at Shepards' shoulder.

"Know what that's like" sympathized Juliana. "Damn synthetics are relentless."

"I'll do whatever I can to protect you from them. But in order to do so I'm going to need some information." Stipulated Shepard.

Apparently something in that statement got Jeong all twitchy. "What kind of information?"

"The kind that kills Geth."

A pregnant pause followed that " Ignore him Commander. The Geth are up in Exo-Geni but I figure you already knew that. Else you wouldn't be out here right?"

Shepard isn't given a chance to respond to that, as the annoying little man jumps in again.

"Those premises are private property soldier eliminate the Geth and take nothing else" he crossed his arms belligerently. This got on Jenn's final nerve in the matter.

"Listen you shortstop Psy wannabe, I don't give a damn about Exo-Geni company secrets, or even about you in particular beyond the fact that it means another human is alive on Feros. So just sit down and SHUT THE HELL UP!

This caused the man to actually stubble back into a seat and sit sullenly.

"Look Commander before you go Lizbeth my daughter went missing in that building. If you could…."

Joeng just couldn't do what Jenn told him to, so he went and opened his fat gob again. "Shouldn't waste time poking around. We can do a proper accounting of our casualties after the Geth are gone." He said dismissively. waving a hand.

"My daughters still alive I can feel it."

Jenn glared at Jeong but put a comforting hand on Juliana's shoulder "Do you know where she is?" The woman nodded "She was working in the Exo-Geni Building."

Jeong again he broke in here sarcastically "Oh yeah sure there are several places she could hide…. For a short time." He snorted derisively. That was it for the calm and composed Juliana. She stalked up to the suddenly frightened man and punched him hard in the face.

Joeng was out like a light. "Damn that felt good. Pedantic a-hole was constantly saying shit like that I could't listen to it anymore…"

A younger man walked up, shifting uncomfortably, while some security officers tended to the out cold Jeong. "Uh Commander Shepard may I speak with you a moment before you leave?" He asked cautiously. "I was wondering if you could extract a small research file should you happen to come across it. Its worth quite a lot to the company and I'm sure I could convince them to pay you for recovering it."

She looked up into his young enthusiastic face. "Fine. Tell me what I'm grabbing and where. No promises but I'll do what I can."

He handed her a contract writ stating that he had commissioned her on the behalf of the company to retrieve highly important documents and material from the facility. And that if she completed the task She would be due a generous payment. In addition she was handed the location and the file name she needed to find. She looked over the terms he had quickly whipped up and signed them.

They shook hands and he hurried off. "Alright everyone back aboard we're outta here." As they pulled out of the garage back onto the skyway their objective came into view shortly after, as well as the Geth protecting it. A tall and particularly wide structure the Exo-Geni building was the heart of the Feros colonial efforts. Or at least it had been. Now it burned in multiple places. Floors that had stood for millennia finally crashing down on one another. And clutched to its' side like a tick on the side of an elephant was a Geth cruiser.

Geth fighters buzzed high in the air beneath a picket of frigates which blocked aerial access. But all of that was not the greatest of Shepards concerns right now. It was doubtful the Geth fleet would move to intercept a lone A.P.C. No they'd leave that to their ground forces to handle. Ground forces which had erected a barricade of their own across the entrance to the Complex.

Her vehicles heads up display began to tally the forces in front of her as she slowed to get a better grip on what they faced. Only a handful of Geth troopers equipped with rocket launchers here and there, but at the centre of the formation stood the largest single Geth Shepard had ever seen. It was approximately similar to the "Armature" class unit she had encountered on Therum but was significantly larger. The A.P.C's automated sensor unit I.D'd it as a "Geth Colossus" towering at roughly five meters tall the monster stood tall over the rest of the Geth Troops and was watching their approach carefully waiting for the moment to strike.

The distance was closing quickly and Jenn had to think fast "Tali anything our Electronic warfare stuff can do about those guys?" Tali shook her head when she glanced over at her. "Not much, the Shields will turn away the worst of the Pulse rifle fire, and I can tune the jammer to disrupt the rocket troopers heat and radar seeking abilities but we can't stop them all together. And forget about blocking that big bosh'tet's pulse cannon. Nothing this tanks carrying will deflect that entirely. My advice, don't get hit."

_If only it were that easy… The skyway's only four lanes across, how the hell am I supposed to dodge when I can't go too far each way without plummeting to our death. Splat._

"What's the weight of the vehicle?" She asked. There was a telling pause over the speaker. "Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," pleaded Ashley from the back seat.

"Yes I've heard about your driving Commander. Please no ramming the cruiser." Says Tali in fervent agreement.

_Why do people always assume I'm going to ram a starship. I only did that once!_ "Of course not. I meant the colossus and come on guys my drivings not that bad. I've gotten us this far." She wheedled at them.

"Oh yeah, because ramming a tank with our tank is so much better. And I think we've only got this far in spite of, rather than because of your driving skill ma'am." Shepard growled in response to that little bit of wisdom from the back.

"Well we don't have any guns so unless you've got a better plan to get through that barricade without them…." She trailed off. Their was silence over the comm for a minute.

"I'll strap myself in. Try to at least keep us from flying off the edge of the road ma'am." sighed Ashley. Shepard heard what sounded like praying coming from Tali. she rolled her eyes.

_Alright._ The barricade was coming up fast. She would have to accelerate now if she intended to reach top speed before hitting the Geth. She jammed the throttle all the way forward and watched as the enemy grew closer in her view screen.

The Geth appeared to have figured out what she intended and began firing. Pulse bolts ricocheted off the forward Kinetic barriers as Tali tried to boost them to improve their odds of survival. The Colossus' main gun fired and the tank bucked as the bolt skimmed across the barriers and hull, a smell of burnt metal filled the air and an alarm warned of a hull breach but it was too late to turn back. Jenn angled the nose of the vehicle a little higher to catch the massive machine at a better angle.

Jenn was thrown forward as the front end of the APC compacted upon impact. The Colossus roared a computerized screech and Jenn felt the whole vehicle spin.

Jenn had to shake herself to clear her head, her ears ringing from the clatter of the impact. "Everyone okay? Tali, Ashley?" She heard a pair of groans in response. "I hate you ma'am!" called Ashley.

"That's okay so long as your alive." Jenn called as she shifted to view the damage. Apparently Geth Colossus were not designed to be hit by over three tons of A.P.C. It lay in a wrecked heap. Shepard was pleased to see that more than a few of it compatriots had been smashed by its fractured hulk as it flew through the air. The rest appeared to be retreating to the complexes large door.

She checked the A.P.C's Status board. There were multiple red lights but overall the tank appeared in better shape than its opponent. It's wheels were all unfouled, it was only the forward compartments and the one hull breach in back that showed on the diagnostic.

She tested the accelerator and the tank inched forward around the downed Colossus. "Ok. Looks good. Everybody ready to go?"

A couple acknowledgement lights lit up but Tali felt the need to comment. "Please never do that again."

"Aw come on it wasn't that bad, nothin' that won't buff out." She chuckled as she eased the tanks throttle up causing the Tank to lurch forward. The Geth were disappearing through the door up ahead.

They reached the door in time to plow over a Trooper which had been brining up its companies rear. It clattered the underside of the tank as it rolled to a halt. "Heh ma'am I think you got some Geth mashed up in the grill." Teased Ashley.

Shepard popped the canopy and jumped down onto the pavement and drew her weapon going to check the most recent victim had been finished off properly by the bumper.

Ashley popped the rear hatch and climbed out, stretching gratefully. Tali was doing something similar on the other side of the tank. "All right folks heres the deal. Get in there find what were looking for and get out before they can pin us down and overwhelm us. Any questions?"

Neither of the other two women voiced any so she decided to plough ahead. She pulled herself up on to a loading dock and looked about for the entrance to the building. There appeared to be three. One off to the side was labelled by Exo-Geni as vehicle maintenance storage. Another was located at the bottom of a collapsed access stairway. The final visible entrance was clouded over by some kind of energy curtain. It was different from the one Liara had been trapped behind on Therum. So Shepard was betting it was Geth and that what they wanted was behind. However there was no obvious way through, not even an access panel.

So that left them with the one way drop down a stairwell. Too high to climb back out without equipment. Jenn motioned the other two over before shimmying over the edge to avoid hurting herself when she jumped, the shock absorbers in her power armour cushioning her fall. She checked to make sure she wasn't about to get snuck up on by any Geth, then motioned for Ashley to make the jump. After which they helped Tali leap down.

From there they crept down the darkened corridor before them. It opened into a large mostly collapsed access corridor. A dead creature lay dead on the floor before them. A Varren ,it appeared to have been shot repeatedly.

Jenn opened her mouth to comment on it when she felt something slam into her shoulder. She looked down to see a needle like bullet hovering in the air suspended by the kinetic barriers. "Damn it" a small voice called out. And a woman shuffled out from the shadows. She was covered in soot and looked like she hadn't slept in days. She also looked a little shamefaced now "I'm so sorry. For a moment there I thought you were Geth."

_Got all my bits in the right place so for now… No harm no foul?_

"It's all right your safe now. What are you still doing here though?" She asked. The woman sighed and wiped a grimy hand against her brow. "It's my own fault. Everyone else was running but I, like an idiot, stayed to back up data." She cursed herself under her breath. "Next thing I know the Geth ship latched on and the power goes out. I was trapped. I tried to get out but the way was blocked. It's taken me this long to work my way to here.

"Don't worry I don't think the Geth are going to be able to trap my team like they did you." The girl nodded but seemed unconvinced. "It's not so much the Geth as the barrier they put up. It blocks all of the major concourses. They really don't want anyone getting access to the…" She cut herself off and looked nervous.

_What is it with people on this rock. Are they all born suspicious?_

"Look. I'm here for the Geth, to get rid of them. In order to do that I need to know what they're after. If you know, you need to tell me." She asserted.

The woman considered that for only a moment "I-uh. I don't know for certain but I assume they're here for the Thorian."

_A what now?_

"Thorian." Jenn rolled the sound around a little. "What's a Thorian exactly?"

Again with the nervous looks but this time she didn't hesitate "It's an indigenous life form. Exo-Geni's been studying it."

"I need more information. I need to know why the Geth are interested in this Thorian." _Why Saren is interested in it._

The girl clammed up again "I will tell you, just not right now, not trapped like this with the Geth everywhere." She stuck her chin out stubbornly. "We need to get out of here. Past that field" she pleaded.

"Fine. Any suggestions as to how we do that?" Jenn asked crossing her arms over her chest. The woman looked chagrined. "Not really no. All I know is that it blocks many of the entrances and I saw the Geth stringing cables everywhere to power it. Perhaps If you follow those you'll find a way to shut it down?"

"You sure you can't tell me a little bit about this Thorian and whats so special about it." The woman sighed and thought for a moment. "It's a plant. Exo-Geni has been studying it but its not particularly special as near as I can tell. It's a plant creature of some kind, unlike any currently known self aware species, and its old, possibly thousands of years old. Look, like I said, I'll tell you everything I know once we're out of here."

"Just who are you? You wouldn't happen to be Lizbeth would you?" The girl looked startled. "Yeah that's me, how did you know?"

"You're mother and another group of survivors are holed up, about a quarter of the way to Zhu's Hope. She was convinced you were still alive and asked me to keep an eye out for you."

Lizbeth smiled slightly "That's mom alright. Me and her moved here together a few years back. I'm glad to know she made it out alive."

Shepard unslung her rifle "Alright. I'll see about getting those barriers down so we can all go home. You got an access card or something to help speed me along?" She asked. Lizbeth nodded and untangled a lanyard from around her neck and handed it over.

Shepard took it and raised her brow at the woman and gestured in a way that clearly asked "Which way?" Lizbeth got the message and pointed straight across the hallway to a door sunk into the wall there. "That stairwell leads all the way up to the Executive suite if you need it. The Geth ship is latched on somewhere up there."

Shepard began marching her crew across to the door and a few moments of finicking with the access card later the door slid open. Shepard glanced up the stairwell. A LONG way up.

"Okay Ashley you take point, Tali your centre I'll watch the back. Go." It turned out to be twenty stories before they got up to the indicated level and the found an open door. They were just about to pass through it when Ashley raised her hand in a fist, the gesture for halt. When Shepard sent an inquiry blip to Ashley's H.U.D she raised her hand to her ear and tapped it. Shepard listened "…No I don't want to review protocol!" The voice said clearly a Krogan. Shepard crept to the front of the line watching her step so as not to make extra noise. As she poked her head out around the corner she spotted him and for a moment her heart stopped. She could have sworn it was the same Krogan as she had encountered on Therum. But then she spotted the differences. Little ones. a pock mark here, a scar there. This Krogan was very similar to the one on the run but it was not the same. _A brother maybe? Clan mate?_

He was turned away from her trying to talk a VI terminal into divulging something. It replied in a calm tone despite his rising agitation. "I am unable to comply. Please contact your supervisor."

The Krogan cursed in his tongue. "Damn it! Tell me what I want or I'll blast your virtual ass into actual dust!" Clearly not at all technically savvy. A VI wasn't self aware enough to be threatened or coerced.

"Please contact your supervisor for a level four security exemption or make an appointment with…" The VI continued unconcerned. "STUPID MACHINE!" Yelled the Krogan.

"If there is nothing else please step aside there is a line forming for the use of this console." The Krogan whirled and in that moment Jenn was cursing that VI as much as the Krogan had been. They both fumbled for there weapons. Jenn nearly had her rifle up when. BOOM! Apparently Ashley had been anticipating the need to shoot and had brought her shotgun to bear. The Krogan reeled as half its chest exploded his barriers not up yet to combat the blow. He tried to right himself but another pair of shots put him down for good.

"Friggin' VI almost go me killed." Grumbled Shepard. And stepped over the cooling Krogan to use the terminal herself. "Exo-Geni would like to remind all employees that the discharge of weapons while on company property is strictly forbidden. Welcome back research assistant Lizbeth Baynham. What may I do for you today?" Asked the VI as pleasant as ever. Jenn glanced down at the pass card on the lanyard she had secured around her neck.

_Heck of a security flaw there Exo-Geni. I wonder how Saren found out about your little project with security like that?_She thought sarcastically.

"What information was the last user trying to access?" She queried. "Fetching Data. The previous user was attempting to access data on the subject species designated "Species 37." The machine intoned. "I was unable to provide the previous user with data due to a lack of sufficient clearance and the fact that no new data is available on the specimen. The monitoring devices in and around the site have been disabled."

"And where is this Thorian located?" Jenn asked but she had a feeling she already knew the answer, it would answer a lot of her questions. "Research assistant Baynham. The specimen is located in the superstructure of the building under Zhu's Hope. The entrance is protected by the Frieghter Borealis."

_Damn._Sometimes Jenn hated being right.

Authors Note:

Hey sorry for the day late post. Actually got distracted writing. Will try to get out a new chapter on friday or something to make it up to you. Opinions, reviews? Oh and thanks Endrius for the betaing. If anyone else wants to help out let me know.


	13. Chapter 13: Feros III

Chapter 13

"Shepard to Normandy. Do you read?" Shepard switched channels "Shepard to Leyte Gulf. John do you read me?" Nothing but static greeted her hail. Not that that was entirely unexpected. She turned back to the VI terminal she had been interrogating, "VI do you know how the Geth found out about the Thorian." "Negative research assistant Lizbeth Baynham. You may wish to contact your supervisor to see if they have access to this information." Shepard glanced over at the local chief executives office door. If anyone would know it she supposed it would be them. "Thank-you VI." She stepped away from the Terminal. "Logging you out research assistant." The VI's avatar winked out of existence.

Shepard marched over to the door and opened it. Who ever it was had left the terminal on when they'd left. She tapped through it but most of the information was sealed. "Tali you think you could take a shot at this?" Tali nodded happily and hurried over before starting tapping away, alternating between her omni-tool and the desktop. It was only a few moments before she started getting results. "cross reference the words Geth, Thorian and Saren." Shepard requested. Tali ran the search ."Here Commander take a look." Tali forwarded the results to Jenn's omni-tool. Jenn began scrolling through the results. A handful of searches about the Geth assault on Eden Prime, followed by a reference to a certain Turian investor interested in the companies latest project. Then panicked messages from the local executive to a friend when it is realized the Turian investor he'd been selling secrets to was a colony killer.

So that's how Saren found out about the Thorian. He was funding it's study until recently. _But who's this mysterious friend he also told… and shipped samples to?_Jenn tapped lower and another subject jumped out at her even though it wasn't part of the cross reference. It was the emails senders note.

Captain Channing "warden" of Hades Dogs.

Shepard had no idea who Captain Channing was but the Hades Dogs reference was obvious enough, at least to her. _From mass murderers to terrorists eh Mr. President? Your a real winner._

"The CEO has been selling info and specimens to all sorts of lovely people. Look here" she pointed out to the others. "not only did he sell insider info to Saren. He actually shipped a batch of specimens to Cerberus. Somewhere out on Chasca, Matano system in the Maroon sea. We'll have to forward that to Alliance Command when we get back." She tapped through the rest of the notes. Nothing else related to the previous evidence. She copied it all to her drive. She didn't know if the white collar criminal was even still alive but if they were, they were going to fry. She remembered the workers request back at the way station. She dug down through various menus and employee trees until she found the man and copied the files he had requested. A series of studies on the Turian Unification War and the Salarian League of One. Interesting stuff, but not relevant to her current mission.

"All right now lets see about getting out of here. Tali any idea which way it is to the power source?" She asked. Tali nodded her head, "Yes unfortunately, it appears the cruiser itself is the power source." Shepard considered that, the solution was relatively obvious "Then we'll just have to shake it loose from the building. Lets find our way to where it latched on and see if we can find a way to kick it off."

The others nodded and padded after her as she trailed a line of cables spread across the floor. The cables lead them down several sets of stairs through a series of corridors and then into a number of wide observation rooms looking out over the planet. It was in the first of these rooms that they made an interesting discovery. The Geth appeared to have created an almost shrine like construct in the centre of the room in the centre of which floated a glowing orb structure. "Why would the Geth set up a shrine?" She asked semi-rhetorically "It's not like synthetics are known to be religious."

Ashley scoffed "Hey, if they're looking to meet god. I'd be happy to help them with that."

"I agree with the Commander" warbled Tali in her odd accent. "It's unlikely the Geth are actually worshipping here. Though it is interesting that the Geth would design it to resemble such. I wonder what the construct's purpose is?"

"I don't know but I'm sorry to say we don't have the time to find out, the cables lead through here." Jenn sidled off to follow them.

The second room while empty offered something the first didn't, a view of the claws the ship had dug into the concrete in order to secure itself. "That's a lot of weight on those claws" noted Ashley. "How many will we need to kick loose to make it fall?" She asked. Jenn thought about that calculating in her head. "Probably only one, maybe two if we're really unlucky. Look, see how well those things are fixed in the side of the building?" She asked. She eyed them and spotted a flaw. One of the legs wasn't buried in cement. It had hooked into an already open shuttle port. If they were gonna kick one loose it'd have to be that one.

"There see the sixth leg on the port side." She pointed.

"Oooh, Good idea Commander!" chattered Tali just a little bit gleeful at the idea of how much damage they were going to cause the Geth. They continued to follow the cables, but were stymied in the room that housed the claw.

The room had a heavy patrol of Geth in it guarding the claw. _Apparently the Geth aren't fools. They know this claws the weak point, if it's going to fail its gonna be here. _

"I'm going to lead with a grenade. You two follow, use close quarters weapons. We need to take these guys down fast." True to her word she primed a HE grenade and held it ready calculating her throw.

Finished, she lobbed the little disk shaped explosive into the room where it skipped across the floor and came to rest next to the trooper. The trooper had time to rear back before the grenade exploded shredding it.

Shepards' rifle barked and growled tearing down two more troopers in quick succession. A boom from Ashley followed by one from Tali felled another pair.

Finally the Geth got over the shock of the attack and started to return fire. A handful of bolts pinged of Jenn's shields before she took cover.

Another boom and a trooper fell missing most its chest. Shepard poked her head out then leaned out and fired a burst into the nearest one. Its arm tore loose and it stumbled only to get caught by a fusillade from Tali.

More Geth fought there way towards them sending bolts of sizzling energy chattering through the air. "Grenades, switch to grenades!" Called Jenn priming yet another and skipping it out. Ashley tossed one of her own and the two exploded together in a pair of explosions that shook the room.

Shepard leaned out again and saw that the way was clear and unfolded from the crouch she had taken behind some cover and took a look around the room. A pair of Geth terminals sat at the far end of the rectangular space. And "the Claw" a mammoth multi-ton structure poked in through the door and into the floor plating beneath their feet. This was gonna be one mother of a job.

Tali considered the panel in front of her. The problem with Geth terminals as compared to those used but the other races is that they were in fact Geth panels. They had a haptic array for interface but lacked a display of any kind. The Geth did not require visual information to interpret the info the terminal was relaying. Tali an expert in beth hacking always brought a third party optic array to ease her interactions with the devices.

Shepard had taken to prying an access panel off the wall to view a set of hydraulics that serviced the door wondering if she could perhaps use the doors themselves to force the claw loose. And while she tinkered in there she had asked Tali to see if she could pry any intel from the Geth machines. It wasn't easy. Geth terminals like the combat platforms tended to self destruct to protect the info they carried.

With some careful finagling she had slipped past the firewalls and into the server. Honestly it was kind of disappointing all the terminal housed was a series of updates about software updates and hardware shipments. Tali was about to close out the system when a though struck her. "Hardware" in this case likely referred to ships and combat platforms. That meant the Geth were shipping vast quantities of ships, weapons and troopers to an as yet unknown location. She opened that file again and scanned the data beneath it. Her eyes widened when she realized what she was looking at. She was about to call the Commander over when there was a loud crash behind her and she jumped.

She turned around to see the door was slammed shut and the room now housed a conspicuously disembodied claw. She saw the Cruiser dipping outside the window then letting go of the building and plummeting out of sight. She and the commander stared at each other wide eyed for a moment before the floor shuddered as the ship impacted at the base of the tower.

"What'd you do?" She asked the Commander, shook her head, and tapped the side of her helmet attempting to shake the deafness out of her ears. That crash and occurred right next to her.

"I over pressurized the shuttle bay doors. I didn't realize it'd work quite that well though. I just expected it to lift the claw off the floor maybe loosen its traction a little." She looked sheepish. _Engineers never like admitting they don't know why their plan worked._Tali thought. _Guess thats something Humans and Quarians have in common._

"Well it was certainly impressive either way." Comforted Tali. She then remembered the information she was about to show the Commander. "Shepard, I think you need to see this." She moved her arm in a gesture she'd seen humans make to indicate that she should come on over. Shepard came over and looked at the screen Tali was projecting for her. Her eyes darted back and forth taking in the message. She swore vehemently "The Geth are preparing to try and take the Armstrong Cluster!"

"What!" Ashley barked, "We need to get back to the Normandy ASAP ma'am. Can you get through to them now?" Shepard nodded. And called the Normandy. And received an answer from a very unhappy sounding Joker. "You okay Joker? Anybody try to interfere with the ship?" Joker barked an unhappy laugh. "Yeah. We're in lock down. The Colonists went nuts. Your brother got everyone back to the ships and then they just freaked. They started climbing on the hull banging on the walls and trying to claw their way in." Jenn nodded relieved "So your saying everyones safety aboard ship? If thats the case just hold on we're coming. Its doubtful the colonist have anything that could even scratch the hull."

"Uh sure. We'll just sit tight. You wanna speak to John? He's on the Bridge," he offered Shepard considered that, clearly tempted. "Not right now Joker we'll be there as soon as we can. Shepard Out."

Ashley was getting antsy. "Come on Commander we should head out." Jenn shot her an annoyed look as she shut down the link to the Normandy. She didn't really need to be told that Tali figured.

"We know that the barriers down so lets move. I'm also willing to bet miss Baynham will know more this time when we ask her about the Thorian." She growled, unhappy with the young womans reticence on the matter.

They jogged at a brisk pace back out and down to the door which had been sealed over before. Lizbeth stood just beyond wringing her hands nervously. "Are you ready to go. I really want to see that my mother's all right."

Shepard shook her head "First you tell us everything you know about the Thorian. What's it doing to the Colonists. I know it's beneath Zhu's Hope and now they're attacking my crew. So you better start talking." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the young woman.

"I…I was afraid okay! I wanted those tests stopped but they were desperate to continue. Threatened to add me as a subject if I didn't tow the line. I was going to send a message to colonial affairs anyways, but then the Geth attacked and cut the power before the message could be sent. I never wanted this to happen, I wanted to tell you but…." She trailed off. Shepard looked at the young woman. She was clearly exhausted and had been through the week from hell. Shepard decided that just this once she'd give her the benefit of the doubt. "You did what you could. I'll see what I can do to help them but your gonna have to help me. Give me a layout of the site." She explained. Lizbeth bobbed her head eagerly.

" I know _how_ Saren learned about the Thorian but do you know why he'd be interested enough in it to send an army of Geth after it."

Lizbeth pondered that, a little bit of scholarly light igniting in her eyes. "Well It does have unique mind control abilities. That's what Exo-Geni was interested in _of course,"_ distaste dripping from last couple of words.

A buzz sounded from Jenn's omni tool and Jokers voice piped through "Normandy to shore party. We and the Leyte Gulf just detected a lot of Chatter from the Geth. You're gonna wanna get a move on, they're moving in on your location."

"Alright everyone you heard the man. Let's get out of here." Shepard gestured out towards where the A.P.C was still parked.

Lizbeth caught Shepard by her shoulder. "I'm coming with you. I might be able to help. Help undo some of the mess I helped create." She said shamefaced but determined.

The Commander nodded. "Fine. Get in the back with Ash. We'll be passing through the way station ,where your mother is, on the way." Lizbeth seemed cheered by that notion and trotted after the marine in the white and red armour.

Tali tilted her head in question, "Am I running shields again?" Shepard seemed to shake out of a reverie she had found herself in and nodded upon which Tali trotted over to her old spot and popped the canopy. She clambered clumsily in and closed the hatch after her. Human vehicles were most certainly not designed for ease of use by species with legs that bent differently than theirs.

This caused Tali to reflect on the similarities and differences between Humans and Quarians. Near as Tali could tell they were remarkably similar at the same time as being very different. Humans had five fingers on each hand as opposed to the three Quarians had. Also Quarians legs worked differently. Humans were climbers not runners and their legs reflected it. Quarians had legs more suited to running and their legs "doglegged" as humans called it. Tali wondered what a dog was but shook it off as she started running diagnostics on the tanks shield suite. Human eyes didn't glow either but then again most of the other species eyes didn't, that being something that Quarians were unique in. Humans also had levo based DNA like most of the other species. Only Quarians and Turians were dextro based this made finding food on the Normandy a little more tricky. The Commander had gone out of her way to make sure they had edible food aboard but it was mostly Turian ration packs.

They had been roaring along the skyway for a while and were a goodly way to the way station when a tone from the comm board shook Tali out of her reflections. It was the comm array from the station itself. Baynhams mother again. She boosted the signal and played it out to the others "…. Is there anybody? Is there anyone picking this up…." Another voice angrier and decidedly male. "Get away from that radio!"

"What was that!" said an alarmed Lizbeth.

"We're almost there we'll find out soon," called Shepard over the roar of the engine as the pulled into the building garage area. But then another signal barked over the radio "This is Julianna Baynham of Feros Colony. Please somebody help us." begged Juliana, then the message cut out. They were pulling up to the loading dock when Lizbeth lowered the ramp and leapt out before the A.P.C had fully stopped.

Tali heard Shepard cursing and popped the canopy to her cabin as the tank screeched to a stop. Without waiting to issue orders Shepard and Ashley took off after the young researcher. Tali trotted after them.

Jenn found Lizbeth crouched behind a set of crates looking into the room the refugees had set up shop in. She made a _quiet_ gesture bringing her finger to her lips before she crept forward to get a better view. Julianna stood stiff backed in the centre of the room, while a clearly unhappy Jeong marched and paced around her, his arms flailing, a gun in one of his hands. She approached him fists closed at her sides. "You can't do this Jeong!" She growled angrily.

The clearly upset man brought his hands to his head. "Everyone shut up! Let me think" He pleaded loudly. But Juliana wasn't about to let him off for whatever it was that had them arguing. "You won't get away with something like this."

Jeong was livid and gestured towards one of the guards who stepped forward. "Get her out of here!" He screeched. The Guard grabbed her and she struggled. That was when Lizbeth apparently could not stand staying quiet. She stood up and raced into the room. "Get away from her you son of a bitch!" She shouted. Shepard reached out to stop her but was too late Jeong had spotted her.

"Damn it! Come out where I can see you, All of you." He called. Shepard sighed and stood up no point to hiding now. _Today is not my day. _

Jeong blew out an angry breath of air. "Shepard! Damn it. I knew it was too much to hope the Geth would kill you." He started pacing again. "Some interesting facts about you in the Exo-Geni database."

"I read about what you did during the blitz, but your _heroics _aren't needed here." He waved at her dismissively as though the mere act could wipe her out of existence and therefore out of his problems.

"I'm afraid thats not how it's going to work Jeong. You need to let these people go." she said firmly but in a calm voice. She may not have been a cop like Garrus but she'd had some basic training with N7 for hostage situation. _Now it's just a matter of remembering those training vids. _

He shook his head bitterly "It's not that easy. Communications are back up. Exo-Geni wants this place purged." _Great cover up time. Good thing I showed up when I did eh?_

"This is a Human colony Jeong you can't just "repurpose" us" said Lizbeth aghast at what he was suggesting.

"It's not just you. There's something here far more valuable than a few colonists,"he exclaimed.

Jenn stepped in here hoping to throw him off his game a little. "You feel like explaining about the Thorian or should I?" Jeong blinked stupidly at her for a few moments.

"The what?" asked Juliana. Lizbeth looked sheepishly at her mother. "It's a telepathic, life form living under Zhu's hope." She admitted. "It's been taking control of the colonists there. Exo-Geni knew all along."

Juliana glared angrily at the little asian man. "And you think this is far more important than a few colonists."

Jenn gestured soothingly to the Baynhams willing them to stay silent while she negotiated. "Can't you see that there is potential in this colony? Think about what this colony _could _mean for Exo-Geni."

"What are you talking about, this whole situation is a P.R nightmare!" exclaimed Jeong but Shepard was shaking her head again. "You damaged the colony yes. But now Exo-Geni has the chance to fix what they broke." She put up her hands as if willing him to view the headlines. "Feros colony survives alien attack. Proof that Human colonial efforts can recover."

"All Exo-Geni has to do is support the new Colonial efforts to show they're trying to make up for their mistakes. They could make billions." She wheedled at him and she could see some of the desperation shift to hope in Jeongs eyes. _Finally he sees a way out._

"Well, yeah. Its true nobodies gone broke playing the champions of humanity." He speculated. Juliana saw where Shepard was going with this. "It's true. Sadly you'd probably make a killing." She admitted. "But if it would allow us all to get back to our lives? I'd be for it."

"That could work. But what about the already infected colonists? They'd throw a wrench into things. They'd have to disappear." _Not really good at problem solving are you Jeong? Problem? Kill it._

"You can't just kill the colonists Jeong. It's not like it's their fault." Said Juliana tiredly. Lizbeth broke in here. "If we kill the Thorian it might be enough to stop the infection." She offered.

"Sounds like its worth a shot. But I'm not sure how to do it without hurting the colonists." Admitted Jenn. Lizbeth looked pensive. "There's got to be a way.

"What about a nerve agent or knock out gas?" asked Juliana.

"That could work." allowed Lizbeth. "The Thorian's influence erodes the strength of their nervous system in order to gain control. It wouldn't even have to be that strong. Do you have anything like that Commander?" She pleaded.

"No gas, at least not with me, knockout gas is mostly a myth anyways. We have something similar back on board the ship but we're cut off from it." _But John isn't._ "Hold that thought." she stepped away and hooked up her connection to Joker. "Joker is John aboard the Normandy or the Leyte Gulf?"

"The Normandy ma'am. Want me to patch you through?"

"Yes please." the line buzzed as the transfer was made. "Hey Jenn. You got a plan for getting us out of this crazy situation. At this point I'm all for just blasting our way out. But Ben's a little shirty about vaporizing civvies you know." He said a strained laugh in his voice.

"You have any of that CZ-017 stun gas aboard ship? I know it won't kill em or put em to sleep. But the scientist over here is saying the colonists nervous systems are compromised, so it might be enough," she suggested.

"Only a few. But with the clouds they make it should be more than enough, if we get them in the right location."

"Ok here's what I wan't you to do, deploy those grenades throughout the colony. Make sure to wear your rebreathers so you don't get caught out. We're gonna be coming back in along the skyway. If you could meet us by the bow of the Borealis….?" She asked

"Yeah I can do that." Said John considerably happier for having a plan.

"We'll stay out of your way until you clear a path,"confirmed Jenn.

"Good luck," said Lizbeth sounding pleased at having contributed.

Jenn turned to her squad "All right guys. Last leg of the race, everyone load up."

Authors Note:

Hey everybody. Got a couple reviews in the last week and finally a couple of people willing to look things over a bit. No official Beta-reader yet, but theme the breaks. I do not intend for the twice a week thing to become habit just yet. As always I could use a beta reader, reviews, or just opinions about my work or mass effect changes I should make. Thanks to K0H, Endrius, and fahRENheit2006 for the reviews and assistance.

Rhys Unit Out


	14. Chapter 14: Feros IV

Chapter 14:

They were receiving reports almost constantly as they trundled down the skyway. The Geth had apparently figured out the jig was up and were in full retreat, They had stopped running into patrols and the frigates above them were disappearing one by one as they evacuated their troops. Meanwhile John reported that he and a team of volunteers from the Leyte Gulf and the Normandy had disembarked and began deploying the gas canisters being careful to wear the appropriate breathing apparatus. They had encountered brief resistance but the grenades were doing their job well. In the transmission John relayed from his helmet cam colonists slumped here and there among the detritus of the colony. However things did not go entirely as planned. While the colonists had succumbed to the gas strange creatures had begun to appear and attack John and his team. They were approximately humanoid in shape but appeared to be made entirely of twisting bundles of slimy plant matter.

That the Thorian itself was able to control the minds of animal life forms was amazing enough to Jenn but the fact that it could spawn these human like "creepers" as well was worrisome. Jenn cringed a bit as she watched one of the bizarre lifeforms explode in a fountain of greenish goo all over John and his teammates.

It was proving increasingly difficult to focus on the road with Johns broadcasts and the occasional shadow of a Geth ship departing overhead. So she switched off the camera feed again. Hard enough staying in your lane without watching exploding plant people out of the corner of your eye.

"Jenn? we've cleared the garage for you but these freaks are everywhere. We're gonna fall back to the freighter. We'll meet you there."

"That's fine John just keep your team together and we'll see you soon." She switched off the comm after he sent an acknowledgement light. The Tower which housed Zhu's Hope was expanding quickly in the windscreen.

"John says the garage is crawling with the freaky plant people be ready to fight when we pull up," she called to her squadmates. "Exploding pod people ma'am? Is it just me or is this getting a little ridiculous?" Joked Ashley as they pulled off the skyway onto the ramp which lead into the building. Jenn could already tell from where she sat that John was right. The Garages main door was askew and figures crawled this way and that in the doorway.

She slammed on the breaks but didn't stop in time to avoid splattering L.G.M (little green man/Leafy green matter) all over her windshield. Ewww. "Everbody out! Hostiles everywhere!" She barked and popped the canopy over her head getting showered with some particles of the splattered plants. One of the bizarre creations tried to climb up the driver's side but she jammed her rifle in its "face" and blew it away. Another leapt off the back of the tank were it had perched and attempted to tackle her. She stood on her seat just in time to deflect the assault and send it sprawling over the front end of the vehicle.

She heard Tali's Shotgun boom on the other side of the tank and spotted Ashley slogging her way through the mob collecting along the left hull already completely spattered with plant gore.

Jenn was glad she had ordered them to equip their respirators before heading out. The air flowing out of the garage was tinged green with the gas from the canisters.

She brought the butt of her rifle down on the head of a creeper which was trying to crawl its way up her leg. The things head proved soft and it went down permanently. "Up the stairs people. I know its fun but we can't stay here all day fighting the green man group." She said sarcastically as another wave of freaks rushed out of the shadows towards them. She heard Tali make a sharp slightly hysterical laugh as she backed her way to her Commander.

They inched their way to the barricades which the colonists had erected at the base of the stairs. Shepard covering Tali and Ashley as they hauled themselves up and over it to reach the steps. Shepard was happy to see a trio of shallow breathing colonists slumped against the walls behind the barricade, one of them clutching a rifle clearly borrowed from the Normandy's armoury.

But the creepers just kept coming and it became increasing difficult to keep from accidentally wounding one of the supine colonials. Shepard nearly bought it when she stumbled over a colonist and a creeper latched onto her head, but there was a boom from Ashley's direction and a now headless L.G.M. collapsed. Shepard glanced down to see what had caught her foot and saw a sleeping Arcelia and Fai Dan piled up on the floor.

They turned a corner out of the stairwell and the flow of uglies briefly slowed as they headed back through the Colonies primary south barricade. The freaks had practically become a tidal wave as they crested the piled boxes and prefabricated barriers. "Suppressive fire!" Jenn was startled at the words barked from just over her shoulder, a masculine voice she hadn't quite been expecting. A roar of rifle fire and the tracer bolts poured into the plant life coursing towards them. Shepard shouldered her rifle and depressed the trigger adding her own tracers to the mess. A cluster of freaks liquified as a carnage grenade arced into the mass and detonated.

"They're wavering push em back!" called the voice again. John's she realized with a start as the tide abated long enough for her to get a proper look. The tide of the green freaks was slackening and none now poured over the barricade. All that was left were those in front of her. She depressed the trigger again.

As the final L.G.M fell she spotted John through the mess. He stood approximately a head taller than her and his Alliance black armour was now a greenish kaleidoscope. She couldn't see much of him through his helmets eye slit but from what she could see he was smiling.

"You always get in the best fights don't you big sis?" he asked laughing as he picked at a ruined tendril which had rapped around his arm. "Just like old times. You getting in over your head and having to have me bail you out." He joked. The others standing around didn't know it but it had always been the opposite which was true. John picking fights with navy pukes who looked down on his humble origins and his tiny sister Jenn coming charging out of nowhere to beat the snot out of whoever had the misfortune of earning her ire.

"You know where these freaks are coming from?" Asked John helping her wipe off some slime which marred her visor.

"Yucko." She snarled vehemently before responding. "Yes I do know where they came from. There is apparently a cavity or superstructure which runs up the centre of the tower. The Thorian is housed somewhere inside."

"Thorian?" asked John. Oh yeah he wasn't there for that part. "Big, fat, nasty plant—" she aimed a kick at a particularly putrid creeper corpse. "—thing with mind control capabilities. Hence the crazy Colonists" She explained.

John blinked surprise. "Really?"

Jenn nodded "Really."

"How do you get yourself into these situations?" He asked. She shrugged "To be fair I just came along to save some colonists not fight off L.G.M's from hell. I suspect these things are slightly more common for Spectres." She admitted.

"Any idea how to get at this thing?" He asked and again she nodded "Yeah apparently the colonists parked the Borealis right over the entrance."

"Clever." He conceded. "I think I have an idea how to reach it. There's a crane one of the colonists was guarding earlier. It's off the port side, come on." He guided her around the side of the freighter the ground littered with still foaming canisters and sleeping colonists and sure enough one of the ships many modules had been lifted up and out of the way. Exposing a small staircase leading down into the building.

Jenn was about to comment on this when a armoured woman wandered up to the John. "We've finished placing the gas grenades" she announced happily bouncing a little on her heels. Jenn's jaw dropped a little inside her helmet. It was Liara.

"You brought Liara along. She's not rated for combat yet." He just shrugged not quite meeting her eyes."What, she volunteered?" He said. And it wouldn't have anything to do with her being a pretty Asari with big blue eyes? She thumped him on the shoulder. "Ow. Why?"

"You know why." She asserted. "You okay Liara?" She asked looking over the woman carefully for wounds.

"I'm fine Commander. I volunteered because Kaidan was needed aboard the Normandy and your brother requested the assistance of a biotic just in case." She said in her musical voice tilting her jaw up a little proudly.

Jenn sighed sometimes you couldn't protect people unless they wanted protection. "Alright but if you insist on participating in missions we'll need to step up you're training schedule."

"So what do you think, can we use this to get to your Thorian?" John asked trying to redirect the conversation.

"Yeah I think so. But I think we should change up the team a bit for this part. Liara you're coming with me. John's right we could use a biotic." John looked a little happier at her admission.

"But you're coming with us to protect her, ok John? You've done well up to this point. Now you need to make sure it continues to go well and we don't lose our protean expert."

He nodded. "Alright Jenn, just lead the way."

A few minutes later Jenn led them down yet another dark and damp corridor. Inching forward carefully. The corridors had been occupied by a few more of those nasty plant abominations, which they had dealt with in short order. "Exactly how far down is this thing?" Griped John good natured despite the conditions.

"How should I know? The scientists and the VI just said it was down here. I didn't…." Jenn cut off as the shaft ahead of them brightened opening into a large chamber. "Alright lets just find this thing and find out exactly what Saran…." Jenn's jaw dropped. Hanging among the pillar was by far the most hideous creature she had ever seen. Jenn had no analogue with which to compare it to.

It was bulbous and round and about the size of a house, long tendrils hanging from a maw like opening near the front, and perhaps a dozen tendrils hooking up into the structure around it anchoring it in place. If that wasn't repulsive enough the thing was oozing, a lot. Thick streams of goo flowed out of its mouth like opening and all over the deck of the platform upon which Jenn now stood.

Jenn sighed. "Well thats just great. A great big slimy, oozing, planty, alien brain sucking overlord…" she cursed her voice sifting off into mutters.

John summed it up better than her. "I think we're gonna need bigger guns." Jenn just nodded.

"Uh I think its sent someone to meet us." Whispered Liara beside her. Jenn looked to see what she meant. And sure enough standing in a still expanding pile of goo was an Asari. A green Asari. Yet another thing to add into a day of firsts.

The Asari clothed in a dark hard suit of a sinewy material raised her arm and pointed a delicate finer at Shepard accusingly. "Invaders!" She declared. "You're every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat." That last word was delivered like a swearword.

"Good only to dig or decompose." It asserted via its puppet. "I speak for the old growth as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe."

Jenn shifted forward to stare into the Asari's vacant eyes. "You gave something to Saren. Something I need."

The woman shook her head in slow denial. "Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. The Thorian listened to flesh for the first time in the long cycle. Trades were made." She said simply.

Those who are gone. I hope that means the Protheans. "But then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given. The old growth see's the air you push as lies. It will listen no more." The Asari took a step back towards the tendrils of the monster which birthed it.

"I can't let you keep your thralls. I need you to release them," stated Jenn.

For the first time some emotion shone through in the Asari's face, it was rage "No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long." Biotic energy surged and the Asari surged forward towards her eyes blazing. "You blood will feed the ground for the new growth!" She declared.

Negotiations appear to have broken down. "Open fire!" She barked. The Asari let loose a ball of biotic energy which Jenn had to fling herself to the side to avoid. She was about to charge her attacker when she saw a horde of Creepers crawl over the edge of the precipice above which the Thorian hung.

Liara detonated a singularity which lifted then threw a handful of the Thorians servitors over the edge. "Anybody got a plan?" Jenn asked.

" I thought you had one!" exclaimed Liara. "Shoot it till it dies?" that came from John.

"Not really helping John." She eyed the behemoth plant as she tore down a triple of its minions. A thought occurred to her spotting the tendrils. "Shoot the tendrils we'll drop it down the shaft!"

"Sounds good to me!" Came her brothers reply. "So what do we just start shooting or do we have to find the anchors?"

"Find the Anchors to be safe. Lets try around to the left. She started her retreat in that direction. The Green Asari launched a warp in her direction which Liara deflected with a barrier.

The did indeed find the first anchor lodged via sucker onto the wall on the left. Jenn was about to take a shot at it when she got jumped by a creeper. She had to wrestle it away to keep it from tearing her head off. Finishing it with a pistol round fired from her sidearm.

Not wanting to waste anytime being delicate Shepard pulled a Det-stick from her belt. A Det-stick was a grenade like shaped explosive attached to the end of a pick or spike used to blast through walls.

She jammed the blade of the stick into the writhing tentacle like appendage and set the detonator for fifteen seconds. "MOVE!" she and the others bolted through the door just as the small explosive detonated tearing the limb apart. The Thorian roared, infuriated as its now ruined limb lolled useless at it side.

Jenn was about to congratulate herself when she felt herself getting hauled into the air bluish light surrounding her. She had just enough time to twist in the air to see a bolt of blue whipping her way before she shot across the length of the room into the wall.

The Asari was running at them throwing warps and other biotic assaults their way. She heard John shout and there was a boom. She shook her head to clear her vision after hitting that wall. She looked up to see the Asari clutching a bloody hole in her chest and she collapsed. But then the creepers swarmed and John and Liara were driven back. Jenn picked herself up.

"Come on next anchor." She limped for the door as she heard an enraged Asari shriek behind her. The next anchor was up a level and down a section. She aimed toward where she hoped to find a stairwell.

She had to duck as another biotic bolt snapped into the wall over her head as she made it through the door into what was Hallelujah a stairwell. She began climbing pulling herself along on her sprained leg.

Soon the next tendril lay before her. But she was out of breaching sticks. She'd have to do this a little different this time. She jerked her knife out of its sheath and buried it up to the haft in the tendril. She twisted it to widen the wound. The Thorian was howling.

She jammed a grenade from her belt into the wound and set it to remote detonate. She motioned the others to follow her and made for the next door. Nearly there. Hopefully we won't have to hit each tendril to make this sucker fall. She waited until the other two were clear then detonated the grenade. It exploded and the now severed limb whiplashed across the room denting the walls before falling away. The Thorian gave a satisfying jerk downwards its weight falling onto it's remaining limbs in escalating quantities. Only a couple more. or so she hoped.

A storm of flailing limbs and blue lightning heralded the arrival of more of the Thorians thralls. The Asari lead them, a snarl on her face and no sign of the wound John had give her.

Jenn opened up but the woman closed too fast taking a set of wounds in the side but not slowing. She ducked a glowing fist and drove her own into the Asari's side, the breath whooshed from her lungs. Jenn drove at her again pounding at her with fist and knife. The woman staggered back a broken arm dangling at her side and numerous bleeding cuts on her face and chest. But yet again she was saved by a surge of Creepers leaping to her aid.

"Come on lets hit some more of those limbs. These suckers won't stop coming until its dead." She called and began a retreat of her own. This time her path took her down two flights of stairs and through several rooms before she found another anchor. She didn't have time to waste, the enemy were right behind her, she unstrapped the web belt full of grenades and like with the Geth Armature on Therum lashed them around the limb. She had but a moment to duck out of the way before detonating them. The rolling thunder clap threw her to her knees and the severed limb whipped by overhead bowling over a horde of L.G.M.

The Thorian gave a howl and it dropped, first five feet ,then ten. The weight being born by its arms growing to rapidly for it to compensate. She heard a snap and an arm two stories up let go and slithered off the balcony. It dropped again.

Finally several more arms releasing the Thorian began its slow plummet. The building shook as it impacted on the balcony beneath it as it passed. Then a roaring howl growing more distant as it fell away. It was almost a full ten seconds before Jenn heard the final impact echo up from the depths of the tower and the creepers all toppled as one.

Jenn got to her feet and stumbled over to the ledge trying to catch a glimpse of the dead beast. The tower descended into darkness where she could not see. As Jenn turned to go she found the strange Asari face down on the floor. She leaned down and felt for a pulse but found none. "Everybody Good?" She called to her friends.

"I'm okay. Just a little banged up" Said John pushing his way through a pile of dead creepers. "And you Liara?" She turned to find the woman but instead found an otherwise empty room. "Liara?"

They found Liara down one of the side passages kneeling next to an unconscious Asari. Who's covered in guess what? More goo. This Asari was the spitting image of the others which had attacked them except that its skin was a sort of purplish pink tone as opposed to the others green. "Over here Shepard… er Shepards?" She called as she saw them approach. "I found this one floating in that pod affixed to the wall. I recognize her now, like this. Her name is Shiala she's one of my mothers retainers."

Jenn pointed to a deflated blister like pod which the Thorian had set into the wall. "I take it the others were copies then?" she asked. Liara nodded "That would be my guess though how the Thorian managed to create such copies I have no idea. Shiala…. Shiala can you hear me?" she pulled the unconscious Asari into her lap and patted her face in an attempt to rouse her.

"Are you sure you want to wake her." Asked John. "If she's working for your mother that means she's one of the bad guys right?" Liara shook her head in disagreement. "We need information and with the Thorian dead we don't have another source. Shiala!" She cried shaking the woman who gave a start and started blinking.

"I wha— Liara! I'm what….." The woman was confused and tried to sit up, but her arms gave out and she collapsed back. "Shhhhhh." soothed Liara "It's Okay Shiala. Just lie back for now."

"I but… I'm free." She shook her head to clear whatever cobwebs must have formed in there. She looked blearily around at her liberators. "I suppose it's you I have to thanks for that?" she asked.

Jenn was leery about allowing the disoriented woman get too firm a grasp on the situation. "You wan't to tell me how you got in side that thing in the first place Shiala."

She bobbed her head willingly enough "I serve… I served Matriarch Benezia, when she allied herself with Saren I followed." She blinked at them. "I suppose you must be Commander Shepard then. He indicated you were hunting him. I suppose thats how you found your way here?" Jenn just nodded stiffly.

"Benezia believed Saren would wield great influence and sought to turn him down a gentler path." Explained the woman, she sighed then shook her head "… But Saren is compelling, Benezia lost her way."

"Are you saying Saren can control minds, even one as powerful as Benezia's." Jenn layered in a reasonable amount of doubt into her voice.

"Benezia and I underestimated Saren. Somehow, in a way I don't completely understand, we came to believe in his cause and his goals. The strength of his influence is…. troubling," she said.

"You expect us to believe that the only reason you followed Saren is because you were brain washed?" Scoffed John from over Jenn's shoulder. "I'll give you this you've got guts."

Liara spoke up "She tried to turn aside a river but was swept away." John just gave her a funny look for the flowery explanation.

Jenn held up a hand to forestall any more interruptions. "Asari Matriarchs are incredibly powerful beings," she protested. "How is it that one could fall under Saren's control?"

Shiala explained "Saren is in possession of a massive warship. I believe you have encountered it?" Jenn nodded. The great ship which had assaulted Eden Prime. "He calls it Sovereign. It allows him to dominate the minds of his followers. They become indoctrinated to Sarens will." Shiala tried again to rise and this time managed to sit upright. "It is subtle. It can take days or weeks depending on the strength of the victim but in the end it is absolute."

Liara shifted to make the woman more comfortable. "I was a willing slave when I came to this world. He needed my bionics to allow him to communicate with the Thorian. In theory to learn its secrets. Saren offered me in trade. I was to be sacrificed to secure the alliance between Saren and the Thorian.

"Seem's Sarens pretty quick to betray his own people." Jenn noted.

The other woman nodded agreement "He was quick to betray the Thorian too. After he had what he wanted he ordered the Geth to destroy all evidence of his presence."

"Saren knows you are searching for the conduit. He knows you are following in his shadow. He attacked the Thorian in the hopes of denying you the cipher. He could not simply bomb the structure from orbit and hope that all traces were lost he needed to systematically eliminate the evidence, However you arrived to soon."

Shepards eyes narrowed in concentration. A cipher was typically a code or rather a code key. "What is this cipher and why did Saren need it.

"The Beacon on Eden Prime granted you both visions. But those visions are unclear and confusing are they not." She waited until Shepard nodded. "That is because they were intended to be interpreted by a Prothean mind. To truly comprehend them you must think as they do. You must understand the context provided by their history and culture and how it related to the facts of their very existence."

"The Thorian was here long before even the Protheans. It watched and studied them as they built their civilization. When they died and were interred it consumed them adding their essence to it own. Their knowledge became it's knowledge."

Jenn considered this revelation and asked to clarify. "So the Thorian taught Saren how to think like a Prothean. How?"

Shiala struggled to explain. "The cipher is the very essence of being a Prothean. It cannot be explained in the traditional sense. It would be like describing colour to a blind man. To understand you must therefore have access to endemic ancestral memory, that is to say genetic memory. A view point spanning thousands of protean generations. I sensed this memory when I was ordered to meld with the Thorian."

Jenn heard John mutter restlessly.

"What your companion is doubtless remembering is that the meld is typically considered one and the same as the matter process. A common alien misconception. A meld occurs at the same time as the reproductive process but is not the process itself. It is a key part of how our species decodes the genetic information necessary to create a new DNA strand for our young," Shiala explained.

John's face relaxed somewhat. Don't want to know how John knew even that much. moving on.

"Regardless when this happened, our minds were merged, our consciousness intertwined. Such knowledge cannot be taught, not in the traditional sense."

"I assume since you taught Saren you can teach me." The Asari nodded. "yes however I find Humans tend to be adverse to the idea. Your squad mates reaction is typical."

Jenn nodded "I understand. But I need that knowledge. I'm ready whenever you are." Said Jenn more boldly than she felt. Vaguely sexual alien brain probing coming right up. All passengers keep your legs and arms inside the vehicle. Try not to scream.

Shiala nodded impressed by Shepards fortitude and reached out grabbing hold of Jenns lowered face and staring into her eyes.

"Try to relax commander." She said using her thumb to massage the back of the humans hand. "Slow deep breaths." She even demonstrated inhaling deeply. "Let go of your physical shell."

Oh yeah because I know exactly how to do that! thought Jenn trying to do as instructed.

"Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another. Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live." Ok this is getting a little weird. But okay. "Each emotion must mark anothers spirit. We are all connected. Every being united in a single glorious resistance. Open your self to the universe Commander." "Embrace Eternity." Shiala closed her eyes and when she opened them again they were black but Shepard was no longer there to marvel at that.

Instead she was back on Eden Prime reliving the Beacons message again.

A snapshot of flesh rending, a mouth grimacing in agony, its teeth flashing in the light. A great star of metal twisting in the glow of the nebula. Running figures pursued by dark phantoms behind them. Screams that made her skull feel as though it was being torn apart ran throughout the images as they flashed past. Metal clamping onto meat causing it to bleed excessively. Synthetic voices chattering. Figures writhing in fire surrounded by the phantoms from before… And finally, before a great light like the heart of an ancient star, the Ship. The one that had just abandoned Eden Prime and scorched its earth, ascending up through the clouds in the transmission like a great claw. A cry rose up as it approached, drowning out all other noise like the rumble of a stampede of great feet or the roar of horrible beast. The images repeated flashing too fast to catch them all. No it's too much… she pleaded silently with whoever would listen for it to stop. A voice, this time murmuring something she could not understand under it all, a growing light that seared her mind and burned her flesh. Her sight flashed white, and pain arced through her whole body as she blacked out and knew no more.

Except this time Jenn awoke where she had started, not hours laying comatose and then waking in the Normandy med-bay. Shiala had lain back against Liara again weariness etching her brow but she stared out from eyes which were once again normal into Shepard's.

Shepard paused collecting herself. Breathing deeply. Shiala finally spoke when she had re-entered herself. " I have given you the cipher, Just as I did to Saren. The Ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now."

Liara asked from over the other woman's shoulder "Are you alright Commander?" Jenn shook her head to clear the last of the fog. "I saw the vision again. It still didn't make any sense." Jenn raised her eyebrow in askance at Shiala but the woman was nodding sagely.

"You have been given a great gift. The experience of an entire people. It will of course take time to process this information."

"You look a little rough Jenn. Perhaps it's time we got you back to the ship?" interjected John nervously.

Shiala looked apologetic. "I'm sorry if you have suffered, but there is no other way. You needed the cipher. In time it will allow you to understand the vision from the beacon. Though I imagine even then it will remain unclear. Saren indicated that it had been damaged and thus it's information was incomplete, but still it is a starting point," pleading for the Commander to be patient.

Fine then we'll see what else you might tell us. "What else can you tell me about Saren?"

Shiala gave a delicate shudder. "There is little I could tell you that I assume you do not already know. He is powerful and charismatic. But he is also dangerous. Once I followed him blind to his true nature, but now I see he's only leading the galaxy into an age of suffering."

"And Benezia?" Liara asked for Jenn. "What else can you tell us of my mothers part in all this?"

Shiala looked over her shoulder to the younger Asari. "As you well know Liara, Benezia was well respected among our people. A powerful biotic even by our reckoning. She was known as a teacher of philosophy and religion. She has always sought the paths of peace and harmony. She joined Saren in the hopes of turning him from his path. Instead she became one of his most power lieutenants." The Asari sounded sorrowful. "She underestimated him, do not make the same mistake." "I underestimated him too. I believed in my mistresses ability to turn him from his insanity. I was wrong."

Jenn considered these things trying to see if they cast anything in new light. "And his starship Sovereign, where did he get it, what are its capabilities beyond mind control?"

"Sovereign is Alien. In that I do not know where it came from or who built it. I know it is not Geth and that's its design is not that of any known space faring species. As you know, it dwarfs any ship in the Citadel or Alliance fleets. It's weapons are devastating and its defences virtually impenetrable from what I witnessed at Eden Prime. With it, Saren believes himself unstoppable."

"Any idea how it allows him to manipulate his followers? You mentioned it was subtle." Jenn probed gently.

"The indoctrination? It makes you feel drawn to the ship. It make Sarens arguments seem more reasonable, persuasive and compelling. Spend to much time in his ships presence and you lose yourself. There is no other way to explain it."

Shiala lay back down exhausted from her melding and the following discussion. Jenn considered the woman. Clearly she's remorseful. Or want's me to believe she is. Is she truly free of Saren's influence now? Lets see what she thinks she can get away with. Maybe that'll give me some clue as to her sincerity.

"Now that you're free, what do you intend to do?" She asked crouching next to the woman.

Shiala looked pensive, it had clearly been a while since she had been allowed to self determinate. She began hesitantly. "If you would allow it. I would like to remain here, with the colonists. They have suffered because of me and those I served. Making amends would please me."

Shepard was pleased with that response. It gave her hope for Shiala's state of mind. "The colonists will certainly need all the help they can get. They would be happy to have you on their side I bet."

Shiala smiled "Thank you Commander good luck. I fear you are going to need it."

Authors Note:

Jeez Sorry guys this is so late coming out. I'll try and be more regular about it. At least I remembered it at all this week eh? As alway thank you to those who put in reviews or helped me check over what i've written. People like Endrius, K0H, and fahRENheit2006. Aslo as always. The more people who help out the better. And please please please send me reviews. I need the feed back to make these things better.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Several hours later Jenn was once again on the bridge of the Normandy in low orbit around the planet Feros. She had stopped briefly back at Zhu's hope to acquaint Shiala with the Colonists and ensure that the Exo-Geni contingent with Lizbeth and Juliana had arrived safely. She had chatted briefly with them about their hopes for rebuilding Zhu's hope and had paused on her retreat back to the comfort of her ship only briefly to hand off the data she had collected for Gavin Hossel the employee who had flagged her down earlier.

Now she stood at her position in the comm room filling in Admiral Hackett on the details of the Feros mission. He had been less than pleased to hear an Exo-Geni executive had been funnelling information and resources to traitors and terrorists and had promised to send a detachment to investigate. He was however more interested in the intel indicating a plan by the Geth to invade the Armstrong Cluster. "You say you found this data on a Geth Terminal with the help of your Quarian crew member?" He asked resting a fist just below his mouth.

"Yes sir it was Tali'Zorah who extracted the data. Why will that be a problem?" Jenn asked puzzled. Steven Hackett didn't move for a moment considering. "Not for me at least Commander. I trust your judgement and if you trust her I'll trust her as well. It's my counterparts in the other fleets who may prove harder to convince. Though correct me if I'm wrong this is the same Quarian who testified to the Council during your investigation against Saren."

He didn't pause long enough for her to answer. "If so that may be enough to sway them in our favour. If the Councillors have accepted prior testimony from her before that will add to her credibility in their eyes." He said his gravelly voice as measured as ever.

"All right Commander. I'm going to go out on a limb for you and see to it that theres a few more patrols out that ways just in case the Geth follow through on their plans. We do not need a Geth incursion of that magnitude into the colonies right now."

"Thank you Admiral I appreciate your trust in this matter." Shepard said gratefully. It was nice to have someone take her more seriously than the council did.

"I would love to send you out there to deal with these issue personally Shepard." Admitted the Admiral but the he frowned. "However something else has come up."

"Sir?" It was a question. "It appears your assignment to the Spectres has not been received well on all fronts. In particular your superior Rear Admiral Boris Mikhailovich has requested that you be brought in so he can "inspect" your ship." It was apparent from Hackett's tone just what he thought of Mikhailovich. "With that in mind you and the Leyte Gulf are ordered to return to the Citadel at best possible speed."

**_Well that sounds ominous. _**"Understood Admiral. Do you have any further orders?"

"No Commander. Not at this time." He said

"Then I have one last request Admiral, before you leave." He raised a brow at her. "My brother Admiral. John Shepard? He performed admirably during his time under my command. He protected the colony from the Geth and then when it became clear the Colonists couldn't be trusted he protected the ships just as deftly. He even managed to do it without incurring any serious casualties on either side." The Admiral nodded thoughtfully and motioned for her to go on. "I would like to request that he be transferred to my ground team Admiral." Hackett breathed a frustrated sigh at that.

"You know there are reasons why we don't generally station family members under each other. Correct Commander? It stinks of Nepotism." He grumbled

"Yes Admiral, and normally I wouldn't ask but I find myself in need of skilled help in the hunt for Saren." She argued.

"And you status of Spectre puts you in a slightly different position than most others." He paused "I'll consider it Commander, but either way you won't find out until you complete your duties on the Citadel."

"Thank you for at least considering it Admiral. I'll log my report with the Council then be under way momentarily."

"Good. Hackett Out." His image dissolved from the display in front of her.

She clicked on the intercom to Joker "Joker would you please patch me through to the council?" After some grumbling about not being a Yeoman he complied and the Alien Triumvirate materialize in front of her.

As usual it was the Asari Councillor who spoke first. "Commander. We apologize, Exo-Geni should have warned us about the Thorian it would have made your job much easier." The Salarian councillor nodded "You may have been able to capture it for study instead of destroying it."

Jenn was tired so she was a bit more flippant than usual. "Exo-Geni thought it was a good idea to try studying the thing. Look how that turned out. Green space zombies and brain slaves everywhere. No it's better that things dead." The Salarian frowned a bit at her tone but then nodded accepting her point.

The Asari had a small smile on her lips "Perhaps its for the best then. At least your colony was saved."

The Turian Councillor scoffed. **_Sparatus his name is Sparatus._** remembered Jenn. "Of course it was saved. Shepard would go to any lengths to help a _Human_ colony."

Jenn didn't like his tone. "being Human had little to do with it Councillor." She sighed as the Asari councillor frowned at her compatriot. "They were in trouble."

The Salarian was dubious "Admirable, but sometimes Spectres have to make Sacrifices. Will you be up to the task when that time comes?" She asked.

"Lets hope that time is long in coming then Councillor." Shepard hedged. "In the mean time have your intelligence networks turned up any further leads."

"No Commander, I am sorry. We will of course inform you should this change." Promised Tevos of the Asari. "In the mean time we will say goodbye."

The light projecting them flickered and died. Jenn was frustrated **_Why is it they never wait until i say I'm ready, to hang up on me?_**

"Senior ground team personnel to the comm room please." She paged over the intercom and sat down to wait. Kaidan was the first to show having been on the bridge at the time. Then Ashley, Garrus, Liara, and Tali. Wrex lumbered in last. This time without hot chocolate. He appeared grumpier for the lack of it.

They sat themselves down one by one in the chairs around the conference table. Liara was the first to speak. "Commander? Are you feeling all right, have their been any side effects from the cipher?"

Jenn laughed a bit. A short bitter bark. "It's never fun reliving that vision. Add being brain probed to that…." She trailed off.

"I could perhaps help you" Liara offered. "I am an expert on the Protheans. Perhaps if I join my mind to yours we could make some sense of it." She said eagerly. Jenn heard an exasperated snort from Kaidan's side of the room.

"A double brain probing? Lucky me," Jenn grumbled but got to her feet and sidled over to Liara, who stood as well.

Liara was less flowery then Shiala when it came to melding. She simply looked into the Commanders eyes her own bleeding to black. "Embarce Eternity." She said and just like that Shepard was back in the vision.

A few moments later the vision ended. It seemed to be becoming easier to view it at least. Hardly a blip of pain on Shepard part. Liara reared back however. "That was incredible. All this time, all my research, and I've never experienced anything like that before.

"The images were so vivid." She gushed "I never imagined the experience could be so intense."

Kaidan had apparently lost patience behind her. "Did you see anything?"

Liara shook out of her revery "The beacon on Eden Prime must have been badly damaged. Large portions of the vision feel like they're missing. The data in the Commanders mind is incomplete."

"You must have seen something." Pleaded Shepard. She was getting weary of getting nothing for having this thing burned into her mind.

"I was able to interpret what little data there was relayed through the vision." Nodded Liara a little more happily."But something was missing. Saren may have the missing information. Perhaps a whole other beacon," speculated the Asari. "If we can find the missing data perhaps I can…." Liara broke off inhaling deeply cradling the side of her head. "I'm sorry joining like that is exhausting. I should probably go lie down for a bit." She said tiredly.

"Well I suppose were done here anyways. Anything else anyone wants to report?" She looked around. "No? Dismissed then." The others got up Wrex grumbling about having to haul himself up to the comm room when he wasn't needed and then left.

"Joker, I need one last connection. Can you hook me into the Leyte Gulf?" there was a buzz and Captain Mueller and John resolved in the hologram. "Normandy to Leyte Gulf come in Leyte Gulf" Jenn said jokingly.

"Leyte Gulf here" smiled Benjamin Mueller. "How can we help you today Normandy?"

"You had a chance to talk with Hackett yet?"

He shook his head. "Still filing my report. Why?"

"We're both being ordered back to the Citadel. Apparently Admiral Mikhailovich has a bee in his bonnet about the Normandy and Leyte Gulf's being brought along for the ride."

Mueller nodded "Alright. Better watch yourself I hear Boris is a stubborn old goat." He advised.

A nod then she said "One other thing. I figured it should come from me seein' as it will be my fault. I requested that John be transferred to my squad for the duration of my mission. Hackett hasn't said yet whether or not he'll approve the transfer but I thought you should know so you don't get blindsided."

Mueller grimaced slightly and John's mouth dropped open. "Uh. Is that even allowed sis?" She shrugged in response.

"He didn't seem particularly against it under the circumstances."

"I must admit it will be mighty inconvenient to lose my X.O, Commander." Said Mueller.

"I know and I apologize Captain but I'm up to my armpits in this thing and could use someone as skilled as John."

"I understand Commander. Well, if the Admiral decides to okay it, we'll work around it. Until then we may just be making mountains of mole hills."

"How about you John, you gonna be okay working under me? She asked

He nodded his head slowly. "Had no problem with it on Feros. You definitely know what you're doing in the ground assault area. Just have trouble watching you throw yourself at space zombies."

"Gonna be throwing my self at worse than that before the end John." She stated simply. He nodded. "I know. I'll just have to learn to deal with it should it come to that won't I. Kinda wish I could be the one to hit those Cerberus bases you learned about. That Quarian sure tears it up in the hacking department eh?"

"Tell you what, we ever run into Cerberus? I'll be sure to let you pound on 'em" she smirked slightly at his enthusiasm. She closed out the call with them a few minutes later after exchanging some final pleasantries. Soon after she headed down to her quarters and to bed.

**_Two Days Later after arrival at the Citadel_**

**_What a crappy day._** Thought Shepard. Not only had the Admiral not been waiting dockside as promised. An event that had necessitated the wearing of the hated dress uniform. But instead of the Admiral, Shepard had found a small horde of reporters. It turns out it only requires two reporters and their entourage to constitute a horde. Who knew?

The first one was a bubbly young sprite by the name of Emily Wong who had been easy enough to wave off with by tempting her with data secured from the criminal Fist's computer after he died. She had quickly hurried off to file a report on the find. The other reporter was proving more difficult.

The reporter in question was Khalisa Bint Sinan al-jilani of Westerlund news and in simple terms she was what Shakespeare had referred to as a shrew.

She had flagged down Shepard after the departure of Miss Wong. "Khalisah Bint Sinan al-jilani" she introduced herself. "Would you be willing to answer a few questions for our viewers." It had sounded innocent enough.

"What do you want to know?" At this point Garrus who had been gesturing wildly at her from behind Khalisa beat feet apparently knowing something She didn't.

"You've been given a unique position to represent our race. People want a sense of how you'll do that." The camera drone floated up and over Khalisa's shoulder. A light snapped on blasting Jenn's retina's. She settled into a parade rest pose.

"Humans have been trying to get the respect of the galactic community for twenty six years. With that in mind what are your feelings on being the first human Spectre?" She asked

Jenn considered that for just a moment. "The Spectres represent the best and brightest of every species in the galaxy. To be asked to joint their ranks? It's an honour."

Khalisa got a predatory light in her eyes that suddenly set a small warning siren blaring in he mind. "Some have referred to your induction as the Citadel "throwing humans a bone." Have you encountered any situations where the Citadel asked you to place its needs before those of earth?"

**_Ah. So thats how it's going to be. Knew Garrus had to be up to something over there. Two can play this game. _**"The council are concerned with the needs of the whole galactic community. We're part of that community now. Our needs are on their agenda, but were one of many."

"You really believe that don't you?" Asked the reporter a small sneer on her face. Jenn just offered a small nod, so al-jilani moved on.

"You've been given command of an advanced Human warship for your missions. Is there anything you'd like to say about it?"

"Actually the Normandy was codeveloped by Human and Turian Engineers. Its design incorporates many innovations. All of which are classified I'm afraid."

"So the Turians have knowledge of the Normandy which is being kept secret from the Alliance public? Do you think it was appropriate to hand Earths most advanced warship over to the citadel."

**_You make it sound like we just handed Joe blow Turian the keys and said "go for it".The only Turian aboard is Garrus._**

Jenn was getting frustrated with the constant barbs and attacks.

"I wasn't aware it had been "handed over," some of Jenns frustration leaked into her voice. "I'm in Command and last I checked I'm human. Same goes for my crew."

Khalisa frowned at being foiled. "Human… Yes. But you do work for the Citadel now Commander. Speaking of your new job, do you think Humanity will ever get the respect it deserves from the galactic community?"

"Respects a funny thing. People just assume they deserve it. The Truth is respect is earned and I firmly believe we can earn it." Shepard responded.

"You'r an idealist Commander, but a sincere one, I hope you're right," Khalisa's tone said just what she thought of that. "One last question Commander. Rumors back home say that your tracking a rouge Spectre named Saren. Do you have any comment on that?"

"I can't confirm or deny whatever my current assignment may or may not be."

Khalisa got a sly look as the camera finally dimmed. "Don't worry, well find out. The eyes of earth are on you. Don't let us down. Thankyou for your time Commander Shepard." She tossed over her shoulder as she stalked away.

"I take it the flailing about was you trying to warn me to stay away from her ," asked Jenn.

"Yeah. I was afraid you wouldn't get that." Said Garrus Sheepishly. He glanced over her shoulder.

"Are you quite done riling the press Commander?" Barked a clipped voice behind her. She turned to stare an Admirals' stripes in the face. **_Man my luck really sucks today._**

Rear Admiral Boris Mikhailovich was a little taller than her. A greying man of about fifty with a close clipped stubbly beard and cold grey eyes.

"At ease Commander," he said in a bored voice when she snapped a salute.

"I assume you were told to expect me Commander? I am Rear Admiral Mikhailovich and I command the Sixty Third Scout Flotilla. You and the Normandy were slated for my unit after shakedown."

"I am aware Admiral. Admiral Hackett had me diverted from Feros to meet you."

"Yes…. But then the Council got its paws claws and tentacles all over the Normnady and You!" **_As far as I'm aware none of the Council Races have paws or tentacles. Well unless you count the Asari's head fold things…. Focus Jenn._**

"Captain Anderson made it clear to me my assignment came from way up in the Brass. They say "Jump!" I say how high." Stated Shepard simply.

Mikhailovich seemed pleased by that response "Just so long as you remember to jump when I tell you."

"I don't begrudge the politicians decision to throw you to the council. It's an opportunity," he admitted.

"I do begrudge them that over designed piece of tin though," he said indicating the Normandy in its berth.

Jenn wasn't too happy with him bashing her ship "The Normandy is a fine ship sir," she said somewhat reproachfully. "She's served us well so far."

Mikhailovich brushed that off. "It's a gimmick, Commander. Useless in a standup fight. This experiment diverted billions from our appropriations bills. For the same price we could have had a heavy cruiser. But no, we had to make nice with the Turians. Throw money at a codeveloped boondoggle."

The Admiral shook with the fervour he had worked up on his rant "I'm here to make an inspection, Commander. Normandy is an Alliance warship. I intend to see she's up to snuff."

Jenn didn't argue. "We'd be honoured to show her to you Admiral."

He snorted "I just bet. However you're going to stay here Commander while I do my inspection. To ensure it is as unbiased as possible."

**_With you at the helm that kinda impossible isn't it sir?_**

So that is how Jenn found herself loitering dockside for three hours, prior to the Admirals return.

He was already shaking his head as he descended the ramp. "Commander I am not happy."

**_Big surprise. But why in particular?_** She wondered

"What did you find out of order?" she asked keeping a blank face.

Admiral Mikhailovich shook his head as though he didn't know where to start. "Who designed that C.I.C? Putting the Commander aft of everyone else is inefficient. What if he needs to speak with the operators towards the bow?" he asked rhetorically.

**_Ah so were gonna complain about stuff I can't possibly fix. Fun._**

Jenn decided to answer anyway. "It's a modified Turian style. They prefer Commanders looking over their subordinates rather than in the middle of them. We wanted to see how effectively they can command with that setup." She explained.

If he was surprised at her decision to defend against the criticism, he did a good job of hiding it. "Hmmm. A reasonable goal." he admitted "But they should have studied that in a lab rather than on a front line warship." They proceeded aft in silence for a few moments while the Admiral decided what to address next. "I have to shake my head at that drive core. A hundred and twenty billion credits of element zero? Just to be able to let this thing move without giving itself away. Do you know how many fighter drive cores we make for that kind of money. Over twelve thousand! Not sure the ability to hide for a couple hours is worth that cost."

"We could loiter in an enemy system and monitor traffic," Jenn offered ."Or we could drop infiltration teams or Commandos on enemy worlds. Normandy could in the right circumstances be more effective than the entire Salarian S.T.G (Special Tasks Group).

Mikhailovich nodded in allowance "Maybe. But is that the job of a frontline warship? Our job is to find and kill the enemy fleet. Not count how often the garrison uses the bathroom." He argued.

He noticed Garrus loitering off to the side a few metres further down the dock."And we need to talk about your crew Commander" he started a dangerous tone in his voice. "Krogan? Asari? **_Turians?" _**he demanded incredulously pointing at Garrus who gave Jenn a "W_hat did I do?"_ look.

"What are you thinking Commander? You can't allow Alien nationals unfettered access to Alliance equipment!"

Jenn was getting a little tired of being berated "Saren, the Geth, Batarians, and Pirates? Between them all, we have more than enough enemies out here sir. Treating the other species with suspicion and distrust won't win any hearts and minds."

"That assumes their hearts and minds are worth winning. That has yet to be proved. You have anything else to say Commander. Any other justifications for the state of this vessel?" Despite his belligerent tone. Jenn got the impression that the Admiral was honestly curious.

"I believe the Normandy to be a good ship sir. Even if you disagree with the reasoning you have to admit joint construction and the multiracial crew make the Alliance look better."

"It's only your job to look good ,Commander. The Alliance Navies is to win wars." He paused and thought for a moment then finally nodded his head. "I'm not convinced the Normandy isn't a waste of tax payer money. But I am convinced that you believe otherwise, and that you'll use it to it's best ability whatever that may be."

They walked a little further back towards the bow this time. "I'll be submitting a report to the joint military council. It will not be as negative as at first I thought it was going to be." He admitted a small rueful smile touching his lips.

He saluted then extended his hand to her. "Good hunting Commander Shepard, I trust you'll do your best to make us proud?"

"Yes sir!" she shook his hand then snapped a salute and they parted ways.

Garrus sidled over from where he had been behind them. "Making all kinds of friends to today aren't we Shepard?" He chuckled.


End file.
